Anything
by SadieMarie
Summary: Sora's little sister will do anything to get her brother back. But does that mean turning to the darkside to do it? KH 2 spoilers. [LAST CHAPTER IS UP! PLUS CREDITS PAGE!] [OCxTidus] [SoraxKairi] R & R
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer- i don't own any Kingdom Hearts anything.**

**A/N- It's a little long, but enjoy!****

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Chapter 1

It seemed like another normal day. It started off normal. _Beep beep beep! _The alarm clock went off.

"Mmmm…" Emily groaned. She pressed the snooze button and looked to see what time it was. 7:00 am.

"Uhh…" she grunted. She turned over in bed and mumbled, "Just…five…more…minutes…" There was a knock on her door, but she didn't acknowledge that she heard it. The door burst open.

"Come on, Emily! This is our last weekend of summer vacation! We were going to spend it at the island with everyone, remember? Get up! Mom's making breakfast!" the boy shouted as he pulled his shirt on over his head.

_Oh, yea! _Emily thought. _Today's the day! Dang it, I forgot!_

"Okay, okay. Hold your horses, Sora…" mumbled out.

"Well, hurry up!" Sora said impatiently.

"You just wanna get there early so you can see Kairi." Emily said as she pulled herself up. She had recently discovered her older brother's crush on his best girl friend.

"Do not!" Sora shouted as he threw a pair of socks at his sister. Emily was two years younger than he was. Even so, his friends were her friends. She had a special bond with his best friend Riku. When she was little, just barely four years old, she wandered just a little too far out into the ocean. No one noticed except Riku. He dived in and saved her from drowning. Since then he was like a second older brother to her, as she was like a little sister to him.

"Hey! Get out of my room! Mo-o-om!" Emily shouted.

"All right! All right! I'm leaving! Just hurry up, okay?" Sora asked, backing out the door. As he rounded the hallway corner, he remembered something.

Emily had closed her door. He knew better than to intrude, so he called from outside her room, "Hey Emm!"

"Yea? What do you want?" he heard her muffled response.

"Don't forget to ask if you can bring Mom's camera!"

"Why do I gatta do it?" she complained.

"You know as well as I do that Mom doesn't trust me with her stuff! Come on! Please?" he pleaded.

"Fine." she said, opening the door.

They went downstairs together and saw that the rest of the family were sitting at the table, enjoying a plate of pancakes.

"It's about time you two got down here." their father said, folding his newspaper. "I have to go to work early today," he continued. "So I hope you enjoy your last weekend at the island." He got up and kissed Emily and the twins goodbye, waved to Sora and their mother, and he was off.

"The pancakes should still be warm. The twins are going to Auntie's house today, and I'm meeting one of my girl friends so you two will be on your own today. Aunty will be here to get the twins in an hour or so, so don't leave until they're gone." their Mom said, putting her plate in the sink.

"Sure, Mom." Sora said. He elbowed Emily as an indicator for her to ask.

"Before you leave Mom," she said, giving Sora one of her looks. "Can I take your camera to the beach with me? I wanted to take pictures for…the scrap book." she added quickly. Their mom nodded as she kissed the twins, and grabbed her purse before heading out the door.

"So," Sora started, looking at his twin younger brother and sister. "You guys are going to Aunt Marsha's today?". Both of them nodded.

"Aunty got a new puppy! His name is Spot!" Shelby said.

"Yea, and because she's ganna have a baby, Uncle Harold put in a new swing set in the back yard." Mark added.

"Sounds fun." Emily smiled. The twins were already five years old. She couldn't believe it. She remembered when they weren't even born yet. She had always hoped for a younger sister. She never expected she'd get a little sister and a little brother.

Emily and Sora ate breakfast and began getting ready for their trip to the island. Emily put her bathing suit on underneath her clothes, grabbed her mom's camera, and packed a few towels, and her and Sora's wooden swords into a small beach bag. She loved going to the beach. She loved hanging out with all her friends there. Her favorite person was Riku. She knew he saved her from drowning when she was little, but she didn't remember it much. Kari and Selphie were also fun to hang with because they were girls like her. She liked Wakka, but he was too in to sports for her. And then there was Tiddus. She couldn't explain how she felt about him. He was the same age as her, and so far they had been in all their classes together.

For whatever reasons, he always seemed to make her smile. Sometimes he would even make her blush. When it was just them together she would get butterflies in her stomach. She would always make some excuse for it. Like she had eaten something funny, or she was blushing because she was over heated. She couldn't like him. She had known him too long. Plus there was the possibility that he wouldn't like her the same way back. She shook her head off the subject and ran downstairs.

"Bye Aunt Marsha!" Sora was calling out the front door. _How long was I in my room? _Emily thought.

"Jeez, it took you long enough." Sora said. "Come on let's go!" He practically ran out the door.

"Hey!" Emily called. "Wait for me!" Emily ran down the stairs, locked the front door behind her, and ran after Sora.

Sora was about fifty feet in front of her. She ran as fast as she could while in flip flops and carrying a heavy beach bag.

"Wait…for…me…" she huffed.

"Hey!" she heard a familiar voice from behind her. She stopped and turned around and immediately she felt her cheeks heat up.

"Hey," she said. "Tiddus. What…are...you…doing…here?" she panted out. Tiddus looked at her and smiled. Emily moved her eyes to the ground.

"Need some help?" he asked, not really giving her a choice as he took her bag for her.

Emily pushed her medium length, messy brown hair behind her ear.

"Thanks." she said, softly.

"No problem." Tiddus answered. They began walking towards the dock, where Sora was waiting. He stood there, arms crossed behind his head, and said, "What took you so long, slow poke?" Emily glared at him, then stuck her tongue out. Sora did the same.

"Hey, Sora." Tiddus waved.

"Hey yourself, kid. What are you doing here? We were just on our way." Sora said.

"They sent me to see what was taking you two so long!" Tiddus said.

"We had to see Shelby and Mark off." Emily explained.

"I see." said Tiddus. "Mind if I take a boat ride with you guys?" Emily and Sora shook their heads.

It was an uncomfortable ride for Emily. She didn't say anything because she was afraid of getting a case of the butterflies and feeling embarrassed. Sora broke the silence though.

"Why so quiet? Usually you two don't ever shut up!" Emily shifted her gaze. She gave Sora a look that said, 'Please don't make it anymore uncomfortable than it has to be!'. So Sora stayed quiet the rest of the boat ride.

Upon arrival to the island, Emily saw Wakka, Selphie, Riku, and of course Kairi sitting on the extended palm tree. She saw Sora's expression of disappointment when she saw Riku sitting next to Kairi with his arm around her shoulder. Emily hopped out of the boat and ran up to her friends.

Kairi jumped off the tree and went to hug Emily and then proceeded to Sora who looked as uncomfortable as ever around her.

"Hey kid!" Riku said, giving Emily a noogie. Laughing, Emily pushed his hand off her head and hugged him.

"Long time no see!" she said.

"Exactly what I was thinking." Riku said, as he lifted her off the ground and swung her around.

Riku put a laughing, and slightly dizzy Emily down. She staggered around until she regained normal balance. Still laughing she looked around and saw Tiddus meeting her gaze. He looked away, with a slightly hurt look on his face. While Sora, Riku, and Kairi went off to talk about one of their crazy schemes, Emily went over to Tiddus.

He was skulking on one of the many low hanging palm trees.

"Hey," Emily said, smiling. "Wanna tell me what's wrong?" Tiddus looked away. "Awe came on." Emily continued. "Please?" she said, pulling one of her puppy dog faces. Tiddus gave in.

"Okay, okay. How can I say no to that face?" he said. "It's just…just that…well…I" he staggered out.

"Come on," Emily said. "Out with it!" she crossed her arms.

"It's just that I---" but Tiddus was cut off by Sora.

"Hey Emm!" he called. Emily smacked her forehead.

"Awe jeez…" Emily said. "Hold that thought." She got up and went to her brother. When she was out of earshot Tiddus said, "I like you. But what does it matter." he looked at the sand. He saw a stick and drew a heart in the sand. Then he got up and walked toward the secret cave.

"What do you want?" Emily whined to Sora.

"Where's the camera? We should start taking pictures. Oh and get this!" Sora then went on to explain that he, Riku, and Kairi were building a raft to try and sail to other worlds. When he was finished he asked if Emily wanted to join them. Emily rolled her eyes. "Sure. Just as long as we're home before dinner I guess. Can I go back to talk to Tiddus? I think he wanted to tell me something important." Emily could feel her cheeks going red, so she looked away. The last thing she wanted was for Sora to know about her secret crush. Sora gave her a funny look.

"I see." he said slyly. He went into his famous crossed arms behind head pose as he said, "And does little Emily have a crush on this said 'Tiddus'?"

"Shut up! Leave me alone! You're always so mean!" Emily shouted as tears welled up in her eyes, but she didn't care. To her, it felt like whenever the opportunity came up to make fun of her, Sora took it.

"Can't you ever be the nice, understanding big brother?!" she shouted, half crying. Sora stood there. He realized that he had taken it too far this time.

"Sometimes I wish you were more like Riku! As a matter of fact, I wish you would just---just disappear!" She ran off.

"What did you say Sora?" Kairi asked, coming to see what all the commotion was about. Riku was right behind her. Sora turned around to them. "Do you think I'm a bad older brother?" he asked. Kairi took his hand and said, "No, I don't. But if you want to be the best big brother you should go talk to her. You know, apologize." Riku nodded.

"Hey, man," Riku said. "If you think I should back off a little with her, just say the word. I couldn't help but overhear what she said. The whole island probably heard her." he gave a slight chuckle.

Emily ran crying to the secret cave. She knew it would be quiet in there, and it would help her get her mind off things. She knew Sora wasn't being that mean, but everything just came out at once. She couldn't handle all the mixed emotions she was going through. It just all came out at once and she had taken it out on Sora. _Great. _She thought. _He's ganna hate me now. What a great way to end our summer._

She walked around the corner and saw Tiddus looking at the pictures that everyone had drawn over the years on the walls. He looked up at her, a little startled. He blushed and said, "I didn't her you come in. Hey, what's wrong?" he had noticed the tears flowing down Emily's face. Emily collapsed to the ground, and put her hands on her face. She let it all come out. She sobbed uncontrollably.

"Hey," Tiddus said, sitting next to her (hesitant as whether or not to put his hand on her shoulder). "It's okay. What's the matter?" He finally decided to put his hand on her back. He gently ran it up and down, trying to relax her a bit.

"Emm?" Sora called from the cave entrance. He knew she'd be in there, because that's where he told her to go if she needed some peace and quiet. Plus his mother's camera laying at the cave entrance was a big help too. He shifted his eyes to see Emily kneeling on the ground crying, with Tiddus massaging her back. Tiddus looked up and immediately took his hand off Emily. Sora went and sat on the other side of his sister. She looked up at him, eyes still full of tears.

"I---I'm…s---sorry." she sobbed.

"You're sorry? For what?" he asked, a little confused.

"I---I…t---took it all ou---out on y---you." she stuttered out. Sora smiled at his sister.

"It's me who should be apologizing. I shouldn't have made fun of you for---" he paused looking at Tiddus. "well," he continued. " you know why. Come on. You can help me gather supplies for the raft. But first, I don't think we've had a proper island duel yet. We've gatta have one the last summer weekend here." Emily smiled, her crying starting to subside. "Okay." She got up, wiping her eyes.

"You're next, Tiddus!" she said. Tiddus smiled, then went red. "Sure."

As they exited the cave, Riku and Kairi were waiting.

"You okay, kid?" Riku asked. Emily nodded, putting her hair behind her ears. After helping the others with gathering supplies (and taking many goofy pictures for the scrap book), she and Sora battled, just as he promised.

"Don't go easy on me just cause I'm a girl!" she shouted, getting into the stance that she had learned from Riku.

"Oh, don't worry." Sora said, laughing. "Bring it on!" he shouted, and the duel commenced.

Emily had learned everything she knew from Riku's random training sessions, and from watching Sora and Riku battle it out. She was very good at handling her sword, and she knew how to block. Even so, Sora was much stronger than she was, so naturally he won. After knocking her sword from her hands, he knocked her down, and had her pinned.

"Surrender!" he shouted.

"Never!" she laughed.

"The face the wrath of I, Sora the greatest swordsman ever to be born!" he dropped his sword and tickled Emily until she couldn't breath.

"Hey Sora! Don't kill her!" Riku called, tying the planks of wood together to form the raft. Sora rolled over laughing.

"Okay. Not today anyway." Emily was still lying on the ground laughing.

"Are you still up to the challenge of fighting me?" It was Tiddus. He walked over and kneeled down on his knees next to Emily, who was still breathless form laughing. Tiddus offered her his hand. Emily gladly took it.

After calming down, Emily ran over to her sword and picked it up.

"Same goes for you Tiddus." She said, getting into stance once more.

"What?" Tiddus asked.

"No going easy on me 'cuz I'm a girl."

"Okay then. Let's see what you got!" Tiddus yelled. Emily ran forward, ready to swing a chain of combination attacks she had learned from Riku. Tiddus easily deflected her, giving a fake yawn. Emily ran forward again, from behind. Tiddus deflected her attack again.

"Is that all you got?" he asked. "Come on! Give it your all!"

"I haven't seen you take a single swing yet!" Emily taunted.

"You asked for it!" he said, lunging toward her. In a matter of seconds he had hit her sword out of her hands and had her on the ground, pinned under his sword.

"You're not allowed to kill her either Tiddus." Riku called out. He was now working on the sail of the raft.

"Huh?" Tiddus turned around. He wished he hadn't. Emily took the opportunity to roll over. She was now on top of him, using his sword for her advantage. After several moments of struggling, Tiddus gave up.

"All right! You win!" he was laughing.

"That's what I like to hear!" Emily said, taking his sword off of him, and offering her hand to help him up.

"I'll win next time. Riku won't be there to distract me!" Tiddus stuck his tongue out. Emily laughed.

Just then, a bright flash, and a familiar camera sound startled Emily. Sora was laughing.

"Sora! What did you do?!" Emily ran over to her brother. Laughing he said, "I took a picture, that's all!"

"Oh yea! Gimme that thing!" Emily yelled. Sora handed it to her. She then proceeded to take everyone's picture. She took individual pictures first, then she moved onto group photos. As the sun had begun to set, she called everyone to the beach.

"Can everyone stand in front of the sun, yea like that! I hafta get a shot of everyone together! Okay! On three, say…destiny! One…two…three!"

"Destiny-y-y-y!" everyone said.

"Great! Thanks!" Emily said.

"Hey," Riku said. "You didn't get any pictures of you, except for the one that Sora took. Want me to take some of you with everyone?"

Emily smiled and gave the camera to Riku. After taking a picture of herself with Wakka, Selphie, and Kairi, she found Tiddus. The familiar feeling of butterflies returned to her.

"Hey umm….Tiddus." Emily nervously fiddled with her fingers.

"Yea?" Tiddus said, standing up from sitting on the edge of the dock.

"Wanna take a picture of us together? I mean so I have a good one besides the one that Sora took…" she rambled. Tiddus smiled.

"Ha ha sure." They stood together, giving each other bunny ears. Riku laughed as he took the photo.

"Hey!" Tiddus said. "Want me to take one of you and Riku?"

"Sure!" Emily said. Emily grabbed onto one of Riku's arms, and he lifted her off the ground. Tiddus took the picture.

"Gosh Riku! How did you get so strong?" Emily asked after being put down.

"It's from lifting little kids like you all day!" Riku laughed, ruffling Emily's hair.

"Here's your camera Emm." Tiddus said, handing the camera over.

"Thanks! Only one person left! Hey Sora-face! Come here!" Emily shouted. Sora came running with Kairi.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I still need a picture of you and me!" Emily handed the camera to Riku.

Sora lifted Emily onto his shoulders. Slightly surprised, Emily yelled.

"Jeez! Warn me or somethin' the next time you're ganna do that!"

"Whatever. Just smile!" Sora said. After the picture was taken, Emily jumped down and took the camera from Riku.

"Hey. It's getting late." Riku said, looking at the sun set. It was getting dark.

"Make sure to bring whatever you want to bring along tomorrow. We may not be able to return. We don't know what's out there. We may not ever see our parents again." Emily rolled her eyes. Another one of Riku's silly dreams.

"See you guys tomorrow. Come on Emm. We should be getting home. Mom's probably worried sick." Sora said, heading toward the little boat.

As they were rowing back, Sora suddenly got a serious look on his face. Obviously thinking out loud he said, "Was it really a dream? It was all so real…"

"Sora? What are you talking about?" Emily inquired.

"Hmm? Oh. It's nothing, really. Just…a dream…I think…" he trailed off.

"Wanna tell me about it?" Emily asked. Sora told her about how he had landed on some strange platform surrounded by darkness. How he had been asked to choose a weapon and forsake one. He even explained the strange looking creatures with antennas.

"It was just a dream Sora." Emily said. "You shouldn't get so paranoid about it."

"Yea…" Sora said, distracted.

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"I was starting to get worried about you two!" Mom was shouting when they entered their house.

"Oooo! You guys are in trouble!" Mark sniggered along with Shelby.

"No. They're not in trouble. They still got home before dark. Just barely. Dinner's on the table." their mom pointed to the kitchen. Sora and Emily exchanged glances saying, 'that was close!'.

After dinner, Emily asked if she could go to bed early. She wanted to load and print the pictures she had taken.

"Sure sweety." her mom said. "Good night!"

"Night hun." her dad said with an air kiss.

"Good night sister!" the twins shouted from the main room.

"Night!" Emily called as she ran up the stairs. She wanted to take a shower before bed, but it was currently occupied by Sora. She decided to upload the pictures first. After connecting the camera to the computer, the pictures flashed across the screen. Riku, Sora and Kairi, Wakka and Selphie, Tiddus, Emily and Tiddus, Emily and Riku, Emily and Sora. She resized the images and turned on the printer. After inserting the special photo paper, she pressed the print button.

After the gentle hum of the printer subsided, Emily heard a knock on her door.

"Who is it?" she called.

"Sora. Can I come in?"

"That depends." Emily started. "Why do you want to come in? Are you going to do something…oh I don't know--- evil?"

"No, I wasn't planning to do something evil…for now anyways.." Sora said in an annoyed voice.

"Enter." Emily said, looking at the pictures, which were still warm.

"I just wanted to say that I really am sorry for today. I suppose I really wasn't acting like the big brother I should act like. I just wanted you to know that you can talk to me about, well stuff you know? I can be serious sometimes you know." he half laughed. Emily looked down at the photos. She looked at the one of her and Sora together.

"I'm sorry too." she said. "I shouldn't have said I wanted you to disappear. You really are a good big brother you know. Riku's great, but you're special. I wouldn't want to replace you with him. I just thought I should tell you that." Sora nodded.

"Well," he said as he grabbed the door. "G'night."

"Night." Emily said.

She grabbed her stuff and went into the bathroom to take a nice hot shower. Only, she didn't exactly get what she wished for.

"Sora!" she screamed. "You used all the hot water! I'm ganna kill you! Ahh!"

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**A/N- what did you think? good? bad? if you have suggestions i will gladly take them!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer- i own nothing Kingdom Hearts related.**

**A/N- i think that this chapter is a little shorter than the first. ****

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Chapter 2

The shower eventually regained some hot water, and the shower was much more relaxing after that. Emily stepped out of the shower, wrapped her towel around her, and wiped off the fogged up mirror. She took a hair dryer out of the cupboard and tried to switch it on. Nothing happened. She pressed the reset button and tried again. Still nothing. _Better tell dad a fuse went out or something_. Emily thought.

She put on her pajamas and walked out into the upstairs hallway.

"Dad!" she called. No answer. "Dad?! I think a fuse is out!" still nothing. _I wonder if Sora knows how to fix fuses? _She wondered as she made her way to his room. She knocked on his door.

"Sora? You still up?" she asked. She didn't hear anything so she yelled, "Sora! Sora? Are you awake?". After not receiving an answer, she opened his door. He was no where in sight, and his window was open, letting in a strong breeze.

She got closer to the window to close it, when she noticed something strange. Out side it was not the peaceful night it was predicted to be. Dark clouds were covering the sky. She looked toward the island off in the distance, and saw Sora running toward the docks.

"Sora!" she screamed. She had never been so scared in her life. That last scream made her voice horse, and she could not scream out his name again. She ran to the stairs and saw her parents and little brother and sister surrounded by strange creatures she had never seen before.

"Two antenna!" she thought aloud. "Sora said something about those!" Emily ran downstairs.

"Mom! Dad!" she tried to yell, but it came out as a whisper. The little black things surrounded her. She couldn't get a sound out. A dark pool surrounded her. She began to fall.

When she landed, she landed on a strange platform with a picture of what must have been a princess.

"Wha--? Where am I?" she called out. Her voice back. She looked around. Black nothingness filled the space around her. She turned around from the edge of the thing she was on top of and saw a figure in a black cloak that wasn't there before.

"Who---who are you?" she asked.

"That does not matter yet." the figure said, in a deep menacing voice.

"What's going on? Where am I?" Emily demanded. Frustrated that she was not getting the answers she wanted.

"I must tell you something, child." he spoke again, ignoring her questions.

"What is it? I want to know what's going on!" Emily shouted.

"Control your anger. Do not waste your energy just yet. When you awake from this 'slumber' you and everyone around you will begin to forget him. Time will pass quickly while you're 'asleep'. If you are not careful in how you deal with your memories of him, he will simply cease to exist in your life. As he will with the others."

"What are you talking about? Who's this 'he' you're talking about? I want some answers!" Emily shouted, tears of frustration pouring down her face.

"Awe. You are already beginning to forget. Tell me. What are the names of your family members?" the cloaked man asked.

"My mom, dad, the twins, Shelby and Mark, and me, of course. And…and…uhh…Saro. No I mean, Sora. Wait, why am I forgetting about him?"

"Hold tight to your memories. I shall come for you again. At another time. As I speak, he is closing the door to light, or so he thinks. A whole year has gone by, but you have not even realized it. The girl. Kairi. She had been kidnapped. She's the only one to return. Riku and Sora are still there. Hold tight to your memories." The cloaked man stepped backwards, and waved his hand around. A type of dark portal appeared.

"Wait!" Emily cried out. "A whole year? I'm thirteen now?" The man let out an evil chuckle. "Hmm. Yes. It does appear that you are thirteen now." And with that, the man went through the portal. Emily looked around the place. She began to feel very dizzy, and she fell to the ground. She laid down. She was not even able to sit up. She closed her eyes, and began to fall.

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Emily was unable to open her eyes. She could feel herself falling, but she couldn't see. She finally felt her body softly land on a soft surface. She tried to open her eyes. _My room! _She thought. _No, Sora's room. What's going on? _Emily puzzled. All her bedroom furniture and wall paper were in this room, but it wasn't hers. It was Sora's room. No, it was her room. _Sora? Who? No, he's my brother…I think…_

Emily sat up. Clutching her head. She was so confused. _Is…s this real? Or is it still the dream? At least I think it was a dream…_ Emily went over to her computer desk. The pictures she had printed out were lying on top the printer. She picked them up and looked at them. She felt a single tear slip down her face. She saw all the pictures, but there was one that was very faded and fuzzy. She could just make out herself on someone with spiky brown hair, blue eye's shoulders. Some one she knew. _Sora? Yes, Sora. Why can't I remember you?_ She asked herself.

She set the paper down, and looked out her window. She gaped at the sight she saw. It was as if the islands were reassembling their selves. She could see stars going into their proper places. She saw that everything was originating from the island. She flew down stairs, out her front door, and down to the docks. She untied her boat and rowed as fast as she could. About twenty feet away from the shore, she jumped out, and swam the rest of the way.

"Kairi!" she shouted, getting a small mouthful of sea water in her mouth. Kairi looked out towards the call.

"Emily!" Kairi cried out. Then Kairi looked up at the sky. Emily followed suit. She saw what looked like a boy, trapped in the horizon. She knew he was Sora. She felt the hot sting of tears flowing down her face.

"Sora!" she screamed out. The boy stood there, fading away, and before he totally disappeared from sight, he waved.

Emily fell to her knees, saying his name over and over again to herself. She buried her face in her hands. Kairi sat down next to her. She rubbed her back and helped her to her feet.

"Come here. I want to show you something." Kairi said, leading Emily towards the cave. Emily said nothing as she was lead.

When they entered the cave Kairi said, "Look." Emily wiped the tears from her eyes and saw the pictures on the wall. There was one of Kairi and Sora that they had drawn together when they were little. Only it was different. There was a paopu fruit between them. The Sora drawing was giving the Kairi drawing the fruit. Kairi knelt down and began silently crying. She added a paopu fruit from her picture to Sora's.

"There's another one you should see." Kairi said. She pointed to a small drawing in the corner of the cave that Emily had never seen before.

Emily knelt down near the picture and saw what looked like an older boy with spiky hair next to a small girl. Underneath the picture, scribbled in messy hand writing, it said, "I'll come back." Emily touched the picture and said, "I know." After a few minutes Kairi took Emily to the boat that Emily had left in the water. Luckily, the waves pushed the small boat to shore.

Emily told Kairi about her strange encounter with the cloaked figure, and how time had passed as an illusion to the people who lived on the Destiny Islands. Kairi said that she could believe that what with all she had been through lately. Kairi and Emily walked home slow. Kairi told Emily about her adventure, about how Sora fought his way through different worlds, and promised he'd come back.

"So there really are other worlds out there?" Emily asked. Kairi nodded.

"Oh!" Emily said, suddenly remembering. "The man, in the cloak? He said that we would all eventually forget Sora. I mean I can already feel it happening. I can't remember what happened that night. I can remember Riku, but not Sora. I keep forgetting that he's my brother. I just think that you should know, you're probably forgetting him already too." Emily said, her green eyes focused on the ground.

"I thought something was weird." Kairi said.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked.

"Well, from the time that I saw Sora fade out into the sky, I started forgetting. Like the little times we shared together on the island. I didn't want to say anything; I thought I was going crazy or something." Kairi said. Emily nodded. Looking up she realized they were already in front of her house.

"I gatta go. I'll see you in school, right?" Emily asked. Destiny Middle school consisted of the seventh grade through the ninth grade. Emily's first year there, and Kairi's last. Kairi nodded, and waved goodbye. Emily entered the door. She saw her parents sitting in the living room, along with Shelby and Mark. Emily began to sob uncontrollably. It wasn't fair that she got to stay with her family that wouldn't forget about her. Sora had this same family and they were all already forgetting him. His parents unknowing that they have an older son.

Emily's father looked up.

"What's the matter, hun" he asked. Emily just shook her head and stuttered out, "H-have you ever h-heard of, S-s-sora?" Her father gave her a puzzled look, along with strange looks from the rest of the family.

"Who? Sorry dear. Never heard of him. Is he a new friend?" Emily shook her head.

"No." she said, as calmly as she could. "He's an old memory." And with that she walked upstairs to her room.

_How am I supposed to remember you? I don't want to forget! No! _Emily thought. She lay on her bead, staring at the ceiling. She desperately tried to think of a way to remember this boy who was her brother. _I know! _An idea finally came to her. She went to her computer and began typing. _I'll keep a journal of everything I remember about him, until I can't remember any thing at all! That way I can always read about him. _She got out an old three ring binder, scissors, and tape. She cut out the faded picture, and taped it to the inside of the binder.

She began typing and didn't stop until midnight when she heard a knock on her door.

"Hello?" she asked.

"It's Mom. Can I come in?" her mother asked.

"Sure, Mom." Emily said, minimizing her work so her mother wouldn't ask any questions.

"It's midnight you know. You've got school in the morning. I think it's time for bed. I love you." Her mother kissed her on the forehead, and turned off the light on her way out.

Emily saved her work and printed it out. She couldn't believe she had written thirty pages already. She hole punched them, and clipped them into the binder.

"G'night, Sora." Emily said, putting the binder underneath the dresser so no one would find it but her. In her heart it was as if she heard a familiar voice say, "Good night." Emily smiled, and fell into a deep, uneventful sleep.

When she awoke she realized just how quickly she was forgetting this boy. The alarm clock rang and she hit the snooze. Remembering that it was the first day of seventh grade, she jumped out of bed. She had already completely forgotten this boy until she noticed the binder sticking out from the bottom of her dresser.

"What's this?" she wondered aloud. She picked it up and opened it. She couldn't remember a single thing that the papers said.

"Sora." she said slowly. She couldn't place her tongue on it, but she remembered this name from somewhere.

_Better not try and remember it now. _She said thought to herself. She got dressed in a light blue top, a dark blue sweater vest, and her favorite pair of jeans. She ran downstairs, the only thing on her mind was seeing everyone at school.

"Mmmm. Waffles!" she said to herself when she saw the steaming plate on the kitchen table.

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**A/N- what did you think? reviews would be nice! ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer- no kingdom hearts material belongs to me. '(**

**A/N- i havn't gotten any reviews yet...but im going to keep going with this story cause i like the idea i have in my head for it. so to any one reading, enjoy!****

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Chapter 3

"It's the first day of school!" Shelby said excitedly. Mark rolled his eyes.

"I'm not ready for summer to be over yet!" he whined.

"But we're starting the first grade! That's why being six is so much fun. 'Cause when you're five, you have to go to stinky kindergarten." Shelby wrinkled her nose. Emily laughed.

After quickly eating two waffles and downing a glass of milk, she grabbed her back pack and headed towards the door.

"Bye everyone! I want to get to school early so I can talk to my friends. See you later!" she called.

"Don't forget to pick the twins up after school! I have to work today!" her mother called from the main room.

"'K!" she shouted as she closed the door.

Emily knew that Tidus **(A/N- I hadn't realized that I was spelling his name wrong. Sorry!) **wasn't at school yet, so she decided to wait for him. She sat down next to her mailbox and waited. She began to fiddle with the grass around her out of boredom. A familiar voice startled her.

"Are you just ganna sit there all day? Or are you going to go to school?" Emily looked up.

"Tidus!" Emily smiled.

He looked different from the last time she remembered seeing him. He was taller, had broader shoulders, and he had gotten a nice summer tan. She could feel the familiar feeling of butterflies returned to her stomach. Tidus offered his hand to help her up. Pushing a strand of hair behind her ear she grabbed it. There was an awkward silence, but Emily decided to break it.

"You look…different--- but in a good way." She said. Tidus's cheeks went red.

"Er---thanks." He said, putting an arm behind his head.

"Come on." Emily said, grabbing Tidus's other arm. "We're ganna be late if we just stand here all day."

Emily dragged Tidus all the way to the school doors.

"So," Tidus said. "This is the Jr. High School. It's bigger than I thought it was."

"They did some remodeling a few years ago." Emily explained. The school was painted white, and it had a giant clock tower on the entrance. The main entrance doors were underneath it. Tidus and Emily entered the building together.

"Kairi! Selphie! Wakka!" Emily shouted when she spotted the trio. Kairi waved.

Emily and Tidus joined the group.

"You two slow pokes need to go see where your homerooms are. They're posted on the giant paper pinned to the bulletin board. Over there." Selphie pointed towards the paper. Emily and Tidus walked over to it.

"Let's see," Emily said, searching for her name. "Aww! Here I am. Room 412. And you're in," she paused searching for Tidus's name. "Oh! Here you are! Room…212. Awe. Maybe we'll have some other classes together!" Emily said.

They rejoined the group.

"Being in Jr. High might be a little confusing at first," Kairi said. "But, it'll all seem easier after a few days. We wont have any classes together except lunch, but you and Tidus might since you're in the same grade."

"Yea," Selphie added. "We'll all see each other during lunch. During reconstruction they rebuilt the cafeteria to hold at least eight-hundred students." There was a loud _ri-I-ing_! Emily and Tidus looked around, confused.

"You go to your homerooms now. You'll get your schedules there." Selphie said, walking towards the 300 room numbers.

"Guess I go upstairs. See you later?" Emily said, seeing a map that had the different class room numbers and their locations on it.

"Guess so." Tidus said with a wave. As Emily climbed the nearest flight of stairs, she found her mind wandering.

_His voice has changed too. Deeper. No longer childish. Sweet…and he's a good five or six inches taller…and he looks better… No! what am I thinking? I can't think of my best friend like that. I can't like him. He probably wont like me the same way back…_ She shook her head.

"Room 412. Here I go." she said to herself. The room was half full already. People she didn't know. She sat in a seat in the back of the room, hoping not to get noticed.

A girl dressed in all black took the seat in front of her, and a small boy with thick rimmed glasses sat to her left. After another loud _ri-I-Ing, _the teacher in the room cleared his throat.

"Ahem. I assume that everyone is here? I'll take a quick attendance…" The teacher was slightly overweight, and going bald. He had an annoying nasal voice. I hope _I don't have him for any of my classes… _Emily thought. After the attendance check the teacher handed out everyone's schedules.

"Just so everyone knows, the school is using block scheduling this year. You will have four hour and a half classes a day, and a forty-five minute lunch." the teacher explained. Emily looked her schedule over. _Pre-algebra first, English second, history third, lunch fourth, science fifth. _A third loud ring interrupted her thoughts.

"Let's see, room 126 first." Emily remembered seeing that the 100 rooms were located downstairs.

Emily quickly found the room and sat down. Still no one she recognized. The boy with big glasses was there though. Emily put her head down on the desk. _Why do most of my friends have to be older than me? _She wondered.

"Any one sitting here?" a boy asked from behind her.

"No. You can sit there." Emily said, not looking up.

"Jeez Emm. Is school really bad for you so far?" the boy said. Emily lifted her head.

"Tidus! I didn't think I was going to know any one! I'm so glad you're here!" she got up and hugged him. Tidus, feeling a bit uncomfortable, hugged her back.

"Ahem! No PDA in school! Now sit down both of you! The bell has rung." an elderly female teacher instructed. Both of them embarrassed, sat down in their desks. After a few minutes of the teachers lecturing, Emily felt a poke on her back. She quickly turned around and Tidus handed her a note. It read, _Hey, what's the order of your classes?_ Emily wrote down her classes and threw the note back to Tidus. After a minute, she felt another poke. She took the note from Tidus. _Are you serious? That's almost the same as mine! Whoa! That's strange…but a good thing! (My last class is different)_

Emily smiled. She wrote Tidus saying that she'd talk after class because she didn't want to get in trouble. At the last ten minutes of class, the teacher, Mrs. Sairon, let the class have a break.

"I can't believe it!" Emily said, turning around.

"Me neither!" Tidus exclaimed.

**_8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8_**

After three classes together, it was finally lunch time. Emily spotted the rest of the group sitting together. Kairi was sitting at the end of the table, writing something. Selphie and Wakka were sitting next to each other.

"Hey!" Emily called. Selphie turned around and waved. Emily, who was starving searched her pockets for two dollars. Everyone else had brown bagged their lunches. Emily gave a cheerful wave and went to stand in one of the four lunch lines.

The line was long_. It's a good thing they give us forty-five minutes_! She thought. A group of older, cool looking boys stood behind her. Overhearing their conversation she heard one of them say, "Check out the cute newbie. The one in front of us. Watch a pro handle this." Upon hearing this, Emily felt her cheeks go hot.

"Hey," a guy with dark hair and a leather jacket said to her. "You new here?" Emily felt nervous.

"I'm a seventh grader, if that's what you mean." She replied.

"I see. I'm an eighth grader. Name's Reign. Yours?" Reign was standing a little too close for comfort. Inching away a little Emily answered, "Emily."

"Pleasure to meet you. You doin' anything tonight? I could treat you to something special." His face got a suspicious grin.

"Well---I--uh---" Emily stuttered, not sure what to say to him.

"Come on. You don't already have a guy, do ya?" He put his arm around her shoulder. Emily couldn't even speak anymore. She shook her head no.

"Then it's settled---" Reign was interrupted.

"Hey! Leave her alone. She's---she's with me." a voice said.

Emily looked toward the voice's direction_. Tidus! _She thought, still unable to speak.

"Oh really?" Reign answered.

"Come on Emm. You're coming with me. I'll give you some of my lunch." Tidus grabbed Emily and practically dragged her across the cafeteria. Emily's face was a deep scarlet by now.

"You okay?" Tidus asked, sitting her down next to him. He handed her half his sandwich. Emily nodded, pushing the sandwich away. She didn't really feel like eating anymore.

"You should eat you know," Kairi said. She had finished whatever it was that she was writing. "Since you haven't eaten since, like, seven this morning." Tidus pushed back the sandwich.

"He didn't hurt you did he?" he asked. Emily shook her head.

"Good." Tidus said. Emily took a bite of the sandwich. Peanut butter and jelly.

"Thanks." Emily said, softly.

"What? For the sandwich? No problem." Tidus replied.

"No," Emily started. "That's not what I meant. Thanks for--- getting me out of there." She shifted her gaze down. Tidus looked at her and then away as he said, "Oh. Sure. Your welcome. Those guys were jerks."

**_8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8_**

At the end of her fourth class, Emily and the rest of the students were instructed to go back to their homerooms. _Great_. Emily thought. _That teacher with the annoying voice_… Emily went back to room 412. Once everyone was seated the teacher announced that he was passing out the school uniforms that were ordered over the summer vacation. The whole class groaned. Emily thought that they didn't really look that bad. A blue plaid skirt with a matching tie, and a white button up shirt. They had to wear black dress shoes too. Emily thought they were cute.

"Dismissed students. There is no need for you to come to home room tomorrow. Just report to your first period class. Good afternoon." the teacher turned off the light when all the students were out of the room.

"Hey Emm!" Tidus called to Emily when she came down the stairs. He was holding the boys uniform. Black slacks, white button shirt, and blue plaid tie. "Do you want me to walk you home?" he asked.

"Sure." Emily smiled.

"I'll go with you." Kairi said, coming from behind them.

"What were you writing Kairi?" Emily asked, referring to the paper Kairi was writing during lunch. Kairi shook her head, "Oh. It's nothing, really."

"Aww. Come on. You can tell us. I promise not to laugh." Emily said. Tidus just starred curiously. Kairi looked a little embarrassed.

"I'll tell you later. You would think I'm silly."

"Whatever you say." Emily said. Kairi suddenly became wide eyed. "Oh!" she cried, stopping. "I forgot something at school. You two can go on without me. See you tomorrow?" Kairi turned around and ran towards the school.

Emily and Tidus walked in silence for a while before Tidus said awkwardly, "Hey--umm---Emm? I---I was---I wanted to tell you something." His face was growing redder by the second.

"What?" Emily asked, tucking her hair behind her ears. Tidus looked away and said, "It's just--- that--- I--- er--- I'm not sure how to say it--- but--- I---" unfortunately Tidus was cut off.

"Oh, no!" Emily yelled.

"What?" Tidus asked, sad he was cut off again for the second time he wanted to tell Emily something important.

"I forgot! I've gatta pick up the twins from school! I'm so sorry, Tidus! Finish this conversation another time?" Emily winced, wondering if Tidus was trying to tell her what she wanted to hear from him all these years.

"Sure…" sighed a hurt Tidus. He waved goodbye as Emily ran off towards the elementary school.

**_8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8_**

"Why are you late?" Mark asked angrily as Emily stood there panting in the class room.

"I'm sorry." she panted out. Mark crossed his arms and Shelby copied. Shelby and Mark ran ahead of Emily once they were on their driveway.

"Mama! We're home!" Shelby cried out. Their mother came out and greeted everyone in with a hug.

Emily went into her room and tried on her uniform to make sure that everything fit. She was happy it did. While she was trying different poses in front of her mirror, she noticed a picture sticking out from under her dresser.

"What's that?" she wondered aloud. She walked over and picked it up. There was tape around the edges. _Strange_. Emily thought. _I wonder what this was taped to…_ She took the tape off of it and turned it around. Herself on top of an older boy's shoulders. _I see me, but who is that? We both look so happy. Ha! We've even got the same color hair. This boy…I sort of remember him… We used to hang out on the beach? A name…a name…. He hung out with… Riku and… Kairi! I'll ask her. Maybe she remembers him._

In only a week's time, Emily had forgotten about the dream, the cloaked man, and Sora. She didn't even remember that she had written the journal about him, which was still tucked away under the dresser. The more she looked at the picture the sadder she felt; although she wasn't sure why. It got to the point where she had to put the picture somewhere out of view because it hurt too much for her to look at it. She laid down on her bed, not hungry for dinner and she fell to sleep.

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**A/N- please please please review??? **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: if you think i own kingdom hearts, then look at the game box. It says who owns it. It doesn't say spongebobfan1661 now does it. i wish i owned it...**

**A/N- Still no reviews... '(**

**but that's okay. i'll keep on writing. in this chapter towards then end you see lines from one of the first few cut scenes from Kingdom hearts II. I know this story's summary says that Emily's willing to do anything to get her brother back, even going to the dark side. I know that there hasn't been much mentioned about the darkness yet, but don't worry. it will be in some of the later chapters. I promise. okay. u probably don't wanna read this any more, so on to chapter four!!!!****

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Chapter 4

Emily woke up next morning from a dreamless sleep. She remembered to change into the uniform that she had received yesterday. As she walked passed her desk, she remembered the picture of herself and the boy. She would ask Kairi about him.

"I don't know who you are," she said aloud, "But I know you from…somewhere." She looked at the boy in the picture. He looked so familiar, yet so unfamiliar. _This picture is so faded and old looking, but it was only taken about a year ago from the date on it._ She thought.

"I know." she said absentmindedly. She took out a black colored pencil, and a few other colors as well. She sat down and grabbed a piece of paper. She began traced the picture, which ended up looking a bit cartoonish. She colored in the picture as close as she could to the real thing. After a few minutes, she set down the colored pencils and admired her drawing.

"Not bad." she said, smiling. She then wrote on a blank spot on the page a short poem that had popped into her mind.

_His name escapes me; yet I know I am there._

_To the boy I can't remember:_

_My heart knows your name_

_While my mind remains bare._

She folded the paper, and slipped it into her back pack. She left her room and headed downstairs. She heard her mother call from the kitchen, "Grab something for breakfast to eat on the way. You're going to be late if you stay here and eat breakfast." Emily went into the kitchen, gulped a glass of orange juice. She then packed herself a lunch. She didn't want to meet up with that Reign character again. She said bye as she left the house. She had left just in time to see Tidus walking past her house.

"Hey!" she called, running after him. "Wait up!" Tidus stopped and turned around. He smiled as he said, "Looks like they picked good uniforms this year. It--it looks good on you." His cheeks went slightly pink.

"Thanks." Emily answered. "It looks nice on you too. Now come on! We're gonna be late if we don't hurry." Emily grabbed Tidus' hand and dragged him behind her.

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That school day went much like the previous one, except that Reign didn't bother Emily during lunch. After he last class was over, Emily's teacher instructed the class to report to their homerooms once more for a special announcement. Wondering what the announcement was about, Emily headed upstairs to her classroom. After a few minutes the teacher spoke up.

"Ahem." he coughed his nasally cough. "The principal will be making his announcement over the P.A. system, so please stay quiet." After he made his speech, a _ding-ding-ding _was heard from the large black box on the wall.

"Attention students." the principal's booming voice came through. "As you may, or may not have known, the school staff has decided to hold a "back to school dance" to lighten the mood of being back in school. The dance will be held on the Saturday three weeks from this coming Saturday. Tickets will be available in the cafeteria for five munny starting today. I hope you can all attend it. There will be music, dancing, and fee food. That is all. Have a good day."

After the announcement, the dismissal bell rang. Everyone in the class practically ran out of the room. _A dance? _Emily wondered. _I've always wanted to go to one of those._ She checked her pockets to see if she had enough munny, and sure enough she did. She quickly went down the main staircase in search for one of her friends to see if they were going to buy their ticket too. Emily immediately spotted Kairi and Selphie talking excitedly.

"Hey!" she called to them. Selphie turned and motioned for Emily to join them.

"Are you guys going to the dance?" she asked once she got closer. Selphie nodded and said, "You'll never guess who asked me!"

"Wakka?" Emily asked, guessing.

"Aww. How'd you know?" Selphie said. Emily laughed. She had always thought that Selphie and Wakka were meant for each other.

"I bet I know who's going to ask you." Selphie continued.

"Oh, yea? Who?" Emily asked.

"Tidus!" Selphie said, both as an answer, and as a greeting.

"Hey!" Tidus said as he walked joined in the group. Emily felt the familiar feelings of butterflies return to her stomach, and red cheeks. She swiped a few loose strands of hair from her face behind her ears. Tidus turned to Emily and said, "I was waiting for you, but I didn't see you. I was gonna leave, but then I saw Selphie and Kairi, and I had a hunch you'd be with them."

"I guess your hunch was right." Emily replied.

For a while there was a weird silence in the group until Selphie spoke up.

"So, Tidus," she said slyly. "Are you going to the dance? And if you are, are you going with any one _special_? " Tidus looked a bit uncomfortable for a minute, but then said coolly, "I guess I'm going."

"But are you going _with_ someone?" Kairi asked.

"Well, I don't really know yet." he answered.

"What do you mean, 'you don't know yet'?" Selphie asked.

At this point, Emily and Tidus were both in uncomfortable states. Emily felt like her face was a giant tomato. She felt so nervous that she couldn't feel her legs.

"Well, I haven't asked--- uh--- _her _yet." Tidus answered, looking at his feet.

"Aww, come on. Who is she? We won't laugh! I promise." Selphie said, crossing her heart.

"If we don't go buy our tickets now, they're gonna take down the ticket booth!" Emily suddenly blurted out.

"She's right you know." Kairi added.

The four of them made their way to the cafeteria. There were only a few people in line. One of them being Wakka (who waved at them), and the other (to Emily's horror) was Reign.

"Hey, babe." he called, getting out of line so he could stand behind her.

"Didn't see you at lunch today." he continued. "What a shame." he placed his arm on Emily's shoulder. "Listen babe, I don't have a furl to go with to the dance. So I got to thinkin'; maybe I would ask you. So what do ya say, babe?"

Emily was to shocked to even say anything. She couldn't move either.

"Uhh…" she managed to say, shakily.

"Get lost. She's not going with you 'cause she's already going with me!" Tidus shouted angrily to Reign. Reign, not looking for a fight, said, "Okay, okay. But remember babe, save me a dance?" He walked out of the cafeteria.

"Yea, you better leave," Tidus said quietly. Emily just stood there feeling stupid, and helpless. She knew that she must have been a deep red color, even her ears felt hot.

"You're really going with Tidus?" Selphie asked Emily. Emily just realized what had happened, but she still couldn't find her voice.

"Nah, she doesn't have to go with me. I was just saying that to get that freak to leave her alone." Tidus replied quickly.

"No," Emily said quietly, finally able to talk. Tidus looked at her. "I'll go with you, that is if you want me to go with you." she said mostly to the floor. Tidus just kept on staring, as if he was now the one in shock. Selphie, Wakka, and Kairi were all smiling.

"Oh, but if you don't actually want to go with me…" Emily said quickly. She felt stupid for ever thinking that one of her best friends would actually want to go with her. She was trying hard not to start crying, however she thought she really was going to cry once she heard Tidus' response.

"Of course I want to go with you. I was just too nervous to ask you earlier." Tidus explained, laying a hand on Emily's shoulder.

"Well, it's about time!" Selphie said, putting her hands on her hips, and putting a gigantic smile on her face.

"Are you five in line? Because if you're not, then I want to get outta here." An elderly women sitting at the table, selling tickets said.

"Oh, sorry." Kairi said. The group paid for their tickets. As they were nearing the exit doors, Wakka said to Tidus, "Hey Tidus, me and a couple of other guys are going to the park to play blitz ball. Wanna come?" Tidus nodded and then turned to Emily and said, "I was gonna walk you home, but if you don't mind I sorta wanted to play---"

"Go 'head. I'll see you tomorrow?" Emily said, smiling. Tidus waved as he and Wakka ran out the doors and to the park.

"Guess it's just us?" Selphie asked as the three girls began walking up the hill. They all walked in silence, probably thinking about the dance. This silence was broken however when Selphie finally said, "Hey! Do you guys feel like going out to the island? You know how Tidus and Wakka can get all wrapped up in their ball game, so I know they won't go with me." Emily looked down she didn't really want to go to the island, she always felt sad for some reason or another when she went there.

"Not today, sorry." Kairi said, a sad look on her face.

"Yea, me neither." Emily agreed.

"Aw, why not?" Selphie questioned. The three of them stopped walking. Kairi turned to face Emily and Selphie.

"Do you remember those boys who used to hang out with us? Kairi asked. Emily tried to remember, but Selphie was the first to answer, "Riku?" she asked.

"Yea." Kairi answered, looking off into the distance.

"I wonder whatever happened to him," Emily said, remembering that Riku had saved her from drowning once when she was really little.

"I sure miss him." Selphie agreed.

"He's far away. But I know we'll see him soon." Kairi said, full of confidence. Emily wasn't so sure. She hadn't seen him in a long, long time.

"Sure. Of course we will." Selphie said, trying to sound as confident as Kairi.

"And the other boy?" Kairi suddenly asked. Emily felt confused. _Other…boy? _She asked herself.

"What other boy?" Selphie asked, speaking Emily's thoughts out loud.

"The one who was with Riku and me all the time." Kari said. Emily was trying desperately remember something that she couldn't. "We played together on that island." Kairi continued. "His voice always used to be there--- but now it's gone." Emily remembered that feeling. It was what made her visits sad to the island.

"I can't think of his face, or his name. I feel awful about it." Kairi said, sounding sad. This sparked something in Emily's mind. _What if_, she thought. _What if that boy is the one from my picture?_

"So I told myself," Kairi continued. "I'm not going to the island until I remember everything about him."

"Are you sure you didn't make him up?" Selphie asked.

"No! She didn't! I remember there being another boy too! I can't remember him either! I found a picture of him---" but Emily was cut off. Kairi staggered and put her hand to her head, then fainted on the ground. At first it seemed to only affect Kairi, but Emily soon felt the same way, and she too collapsed on the ground.

"Naminé?" a boy's voice asked in her head.

"Naminé… what's happening to me?" the boy asked.

"Who are you?" Emily heard Kairi ask. "And that's not my name."

"Or mine." Emily said.

"I'm Kairi."

"And I'm Emily."

"Kairi? Emily? I know both of you. Kairi… you're that girl he likes, and Emily, you're his little sister." The boy told them.

"Who?" Emily and Kairi asked together. They heard no answer from the mysterious boy.

"Please!" Kairi called. "A name!"

"I'm Roxas." the boy replied.

"Roxas…"Emily said.

"Okay," Kairi said. "Roxas--- but can you tell me _his _name?" This time a new boy's voice answered. He sounded familiar, but Emily couldn't place his voice with a face or a name.

"You don't remember my name? Thanks a lot, guys!" he said. Emily gasped, as did Kairi.

"Okay…" the boy replied. "I guess I can give you a hint. It starts with an S."

As the voice faded away, Emily became aware of the sounds around her. She figured the same was happening for Kairi. As she opened her eyes, she saw Kairi on the ground, as well as herself. She saw Selphie kneeling between them. Selphie helped Kairi up as Emily got herself up. _Starts with an… S… _Emily thought.

"Are you guys okay?" Selphie asked, concerned for her friends. Emily and Kairi both nodded, too confused to speak. Emily and Kairi stood up and looked off toward the coast line. Looking at the island. They looked at each other, then towards Selphie, then back towards each other, mouths opened wide. They then began running off towards the beach.

When Selphie finally caught up with them, they were standing on the ocean's edge. Selphie looked at them both and said softly, "Kairi…Emily…?" Kairi grabbed a bottle out of her back pack which reminded Emily of the picture she put in hers. She took it out.

"What's that?" Selphie asked both of them.

"It's the picture of the boy. I drew it this morning. I wrote him a poem about how in my heart I knew who he was, but I didn't know him in my mind." Emily squeezed onto the picture tightly with her hand.

"Mine's a letter. It was what I was writing yesterday. I wrote it to the boy I can't remember. I said that no matter where he is, I'll find him. One day. When I stopped writing, I remembered that we made a promise, something important. This letter is where it starts, I know it."

"Can I put my picture in there too?" Emily asked and Kairi nodded. After she put the picture in there, Kairi corked the bottle and put it in the ocean. It slowly drifted away with the ocean current.

"Wow! I hope he gets that." Selphie said, watching the bottle disappear into the distance.

"He will." Kairi said. Emily knew she was right, she had a gut feeling about it. Kairi turned towards Emily and said, "Starts with an S…" They both smiled at each other.

"Right?" Kairi asked.

"So-ra?" she and Emily answered together.

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**A/N- please share your thoughts in a review? please? oh and i'm sorry that i couldn't come up with more orientle names than emily, shelby, and mark, but i couldn't think of any good ones. srry. okay. please review? **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer- don't own.**

**A/N- Here's to all my readers who don't leave reviews sniff tear tear sniff :'(**

**If i seem out of character, like ever, just tell me and i'll try and get it fixed. okay. here's chapter cinco.****

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Chapter 5

Suddenly Emily's mind was full of memories of the older brother she had forgotten. It seemed that only her and Kairi remembered Sora though. Emily thought it best not to talk about him in front of her family. She didn't want them thinking she was crazy. She couldn't sleep that night. As she was lying in her bed, she remembered the journal she had written the day after her brother was taken from her life. She pulled it out from under her dresser. She wiped the dust off of it and read it all night, over and over again. Her eyes filled with happy tears as she remembered all the good times she had had with him. She finally drifted off to sleep. It wasn't a peaceful sleep. She had a strange dream.

In the dream she floated down from darkness onto a tall platform. On the platform was the familiar design of a princess surrounded by her friends. Looking more closely at the picture she saw a dark brown-haired girl in a black cloak, with black gloves, and black boots on. In one hand the girl had a weapon that was shaped like a type of key. The key was black, with a dark purple rose at the tip. The rose was the same color as the handle. In the other hand a watch with no hands floated above the hand. The numbers were roman numerals, and they were floating around the clock, rather than in place on the clock face.

There were four circles surrounding the girl. One had Kairi's face, one had Tidus' face, one had Sora's face, and the other had the head of a man with a cloak over his head. Emily knelt down to get a better look at the girl's face. She gasped as she realized that the girl was herself.

"Hmm, hmm, hmm." a man's voice laughed. It was not an evil laugh, but not a pleasant laugh either.

"Who are you?" Emily asked, standing up.

"Doesn't matter now." The man said as he stood next to Emily and looked down towards Emily's picture.

"Is that me?" Emily asked him. He nodded.

"But--- why---" the man rudely cut her off.

"You will understand later. No questions now. You remember him now, I see?" the man asked her, pointing to Sora's picture. Emily nodded, wondering how the man knew her brother.

"Would you do anything to get him back? Anything? Are you willing to fight him to get him back?" Emily raised her eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You see, Emily," the man said her name as if she were an inferior animal. "Your brother is on the wrong side. He is on the light's side. For now he must think that he is on the right side. You see, every time he kills a heartless, one without a heart, he releases a captive heart. By doing this he is helping us, the organization."

He laughed at Emily's confused face. "Don't worry child It shall all make sense very soon. Listen. If you want to save your brother, you are going to have to join us. I wont explain now, because I'm running out of time. When you see a red haired man on the beach, go with him. He doesn't always speak the kindest words, but he means well. Don't listen to what your friend may say, go with the man. I must leave now, but we shall see each other again soon." and with that, the man, the platform, and somehow even the darkness faded away. Emily fell and kept falling until she hit her soft bed. She woke with a start. She looked at her clock. 10 o'clock am.

"That was strange." Emily said to herself. She got out of bed and changed into a pair of pants and a t-shirt. She grabbed Sora's picture off of her desk and went downstairs and saw her mother talking to someone outside the front door. Emily ran down the stairs and looked outside to see who her mother was talking to. It was Kairi, Tidus, and Selphie.

"Hey guys!" she said.

"Here the sleepy head is." Emily's mother said, as she walked away.

"What do you want?" Emily asked, slipping on a pair of shoes.

"We wanted to know if you wanted to hang out with us today." Selphie answered. Emily nodded and yelled, "I'm going out with my friends, Mom!" and she closed the front door behind her.

"Where are we going?" Emily asked. She stood next to Tidus. Now that she knew he liked her back, the nervous feelings weren't showing up anymore. Tidus smiled at her and said, "We're not sure. We were just going to walk around I guess. Wakka would be with us, but he had an important ball game to go to today." he explained Wakka's absence. Emily smiled. She just felt happy. She supposed it was because she finally remembered her brother, and she wasn't the only one who remembered, and the fact that she knew Tidus liked her back.

"What're you smiling for?" Tidus asked, laughing at her goofy smile she did when she zoned out.

"Hmm?" she asked, coming out of it. Tidus just laughed at her and said, "That's why I like you. You're not like other girls. You're different, but in a good way. I dunno, does that sound stupid?" he asked.

"No, of course not." Emily smiled at him. While they were walking, Emily could feel that she and Tidus were slowly getting closer and closer next to each other. Finally their touched one another's, and they both jerked back a little. Emily looked the other way and did a nervous laugh.

"Sorry." she said.

"No, it's okay." Tidus replied. They each slowly put their hands down again. Their hands hit each other's again, but this time they slowly laced fingers.

"You two are so cute." Selphie cut in. Emily had practically forgotten that Selphie and Kairi were still there. Emily felt a little embarrassed, but the feeling soon went away. She looked up at Tidus. He really had changed since last year. He was indeed much taller. When they were kids they used to be the same height. Now Tidus was a good five or six inches above her. His voice had changed a lot too. He no longer had a little boy's voice anymore. His voice was deeper. Emily liked it. She felt almost protected by it in a way.

"Umm, Emm? You're kinda staring at me. If you don't watch where you're going, then you're probably going to run into, I don't know, a tree or something." Tidus said. Emily realized that she had zoned out again. Blinking a few times she said, "Sorry. I was just…thinking."

"About what?" Tidus asked curiously. Emily smiled.

"It's silly." She laughed at herself.

"Aw, come on. You can tell me. Please?" Tidus pulled one of Emily's puppy dog faces on her.

"Okay, okay." she laughed. "I was just thinking about--- about how much you've changed since last year. They're good changes." she said.

"Ah, young love." Selphie said. Tidus and Emily looked at her and gave her a pretend glare. They ended up laughing though. Emily remembered the picture that she put in her pocket earlier that morning.

"Oh! Kairi!" she said. She had wanted to show Kairi the picture. "I brought Sora's picture! I thought you might want to see it." she said. The group stopped, and Emily took her hand out of Tidus'. He looked confused.

"Who's Sora?" he asked.

"He's--- man this is hard to explain. You're just going to have to trust me when I say that at the moment, he's no one." Emily looked at him.

"Okay…" Tidus looked a little hurt. Emily noticed this, but ignored it for the time being. She handed Kairi the picture. When Kairi saw it she smiled.

"He looks just like what I remembered. I can't believe it." Kairi looked at the picture a bit longer, then handed it back to Emily.

"Can I see it?" Tidus asked. Emily nodded and handed him the picture. He looked at it.

"That's you." he pointed out that Emily was on Sora's shoulders. "Is this someone I should know about?" Tidus asked, his face very serious.

"I told you. You're going to have to trust me. Right now, you don't remember him. His name is Sora. I can't really explain it because I know it won't help. Kairi and I tried explaining it to Selphie, and she still doesn't remember him either. Please just trust me when I tell you that you don't need to know yet. You'll know on your own time. Just like Kairi and I did." Emily took Tidus' hand. He looked away.

"All right. I trust you."

"You don't sound like you mean it." Emily said. Hurt that Tidus wouldn't trust her.

"Come on." Selphie whispered to Kairi, and they walked towards a large tree with shade.

"It's just--- I don't want there to be another boy. You know? I just wanted it to be me…" Tidus said. He wasn't looking Emily in the eyes.

"There aren't any other boys. Tidus, It's you that I like. I've liked you since--- for as long as I can remember. Don't do this to me. There isn't anyone else." Emily began to cry. She hated crying. Crying reminded her of how she had blown up in Sora's face and told him that she wished he would just disappear. That only made her cry more. These were silent tears. As they fell down her face she felt a warm hand under her eye. She looked up through her blurry vision.

"Don't cry. I hate it when you cry. It makes me--- it makes me want to cry. Come on. I didn't mean to make you cry. I'm sorry. If we're going to be together we should learn to trust each other, right? I trust you." it was Tidus' hand wiping her tears from under her eyes. She smiled, but continued to cry. She wrapped herself around him in a tight hug. At first he seemed a bit shocked, but then wrapped his arms around her too.

"I'm sorry. I should have warned you I was going to do that or something." Emily said as she let go of him and wiped her eyes.

"Don't be." Tidus said. "It was…nice. Now come on. Selphie and Kairi are waiting for us." Tidus grabbed Emily's hand and walked with her to where Selphie and Kairi were standing. Selphie smiled at them.

"Is everything alright?" she asked. Emily and Tidus looked at each other, smiled and said, "Yes."

They all decided that they would spend the rest of the day at the beach. On they way down Emily and Tidus were quiet for the most part, still holding hands. Selphie and Kairi were engaged in a conversation, but Emily wasn't listening to them. The memory of her saying that she wished Sora would just disappear kept replaying over and over in her head. Somehow, it felt like it was her fault. It was her fault he was gone now. She tried to convince herself that it wasn't true, but it wasn't helping.

Seeing something was wrong Tidus asked, "Hey, what's up?" Emily shook her head. "It's nothing." she said.

"You sure?" he asked, concerned. Emily nodded.

"Okay…if you say so." Tidus said, not convinced.

Once at the beach, they all sat down near the shore line. Emily rolled up her pants so they wouldn't get wet. For a while they sat there. Emily was staring at the island out in the distance. Apparently Tidus was too because he said, "Do you remember those sword fights we used to have as kids?" Emily smiled, remembering the last day she was with her brother on the beach.

"Yea." she said.

"Do you ever want to do it again? You know, go back and pretend we're kids, and just do things the easy way?" Tidus asked.

"You mean, go to the island and sword fight like we did when we were kids?" Emily asked. "No thanks. I would definitely lose to you now. You'd be much stronger." she added.

"Ha. You're right." Tidus said, flexing his muscle. Emily laughed.

"That's not exactly what I meant." Tidus said. "I meant, go back to the island and just throw away all our worries, fears, and stress. Just live life like we did when we were kids. No worries or cares." Tidus laid down on the sand, crossing his arms under his head. Emily decided to join him. As she laid down, Tidus put his arm under her head. They watched the clouds go by. They were pretty in the sunset. The gentle sound of the waves, and the gentleness of the clouds lulled Emily to sleep.

She woke up when someone started shaking her.

"Hmm…" she mumbled. She opened her eyes and saw that the sun was almost fully set. She looked to see who was shaking her.

"Tidus? What time is it?" she yawned, sitting up.

"I'm not sure, but it's getting late and I've got to go home. Kairi says you can stay with her if you want, but I've gatta go. I'll see you…tomorrow?" Tidus said.

"Sure. Umm…good night." Emily said, standing up and brushing the sand off herself. Tidus waved as he headed off for home. Emily saw Kairi standing, looking out over the ocean. Emily went to join her. She noticed that Selphie had left too, so it was just the two of them.

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Meanwhile, somewhere in a far off world, two black cloaked figures stood staring at a giant heart shaped moon. They both had their hoods covering their faces.

"Why are those girls so important? They're just two little girls." the first man said. The other man chuckled and then replied, "The older one, Kairi, she is the one that is feeding Sora's anger. If we can get her trapped here, he'll be sure to come here. The other, younger girl, Emily, she is going to play an important role in this scheme of mine."

"A little girl? She has no powers, or at least nothing I can see. Why bring her here too?" the firs man argued.

"It is what needs to be done. You see, there is yet another key blade. The key blade of the innocent heart. If I can trick her into believing that there are only two ways to save her dear brother, her heart will be 'innocent'. She will have no clue as to what her true purpose is. If she is truly innocent, the key blade will come to her." the second man answered.

"What do you really intend to use her for then?" the second man questioned.

"Just as a pawn really. I will tell her that Sora doesn't realize that he's on the _wrong_ side. I will tell her that she is the only one he will listen to and reason with. I will tell her that Sora has kidnapped one of our members, Roxas obviously. She will have two options on how to get Sora to turn to the right side. One. She will have to unlock his heart again, releasing Roxas, then I will tell the rest of the organization to do as they please with the girl. The other thing I will tell her is that if she loses the battle with her brother, she will have to tell him to unlock her heart with his key blade. That way he will be able to return home safely. Either way she'll end up dying. Perhaps a nobody will be released and can join us in our quest for kingdom hearts." the second man explained.

"Why can't we just get rid of Sora ourselves? It's kinda pointless to get her involved." the first man argued. The first man laughed menacingly.

"It's more fun this way." he continued to laugh evilly. "Now go, fetch them both before time runs out." he instructed. The first man nodded and formed a type of dark portal with his hand and walked through it.

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"Maybe…waiting isn't good enough." Kairi finally said. Emily nodded, knowing she was talking about Sora.

"My thoughts exactly." a man's voice replied. "If you have a dream, don't wait. Act." he continued. Kairi and Emily whipped their heads around to see who was talking.

"One of life's little rules. Got it memorized?"

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**A/N- dun dun dun:) tune in to the next update to find out what happens now that Axel's in the picture, or should i say fan fic? lol **

_computer_**- see that little review button down there? yes that one. the auther of this story would really apreciate it if you clicked it and left her a message.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer- i simply say no.**

**A/N- here's chapter 6. Emily gets her weapons and whatnot in this chapter so hopefully its interesting. einjoy.****

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Chapter 6

Kairi and Emily turned around in time to see a black portal open behind them. A man with very red spikey hair emerged from it. Emily, who was too scared to talk, was thankful that Kairi asked the question for her.

"Who are you?" she asked nervously.

"Axel." the red haired man replied. _Wait. Is this what the creepy guy in my dream was talking about? A man on the beach. I'm supposed to go with him?_ Emily thought. _Yes. _She answered herself. _I have to do it, if it will help save Sora_.

"I happen to be an acquaintance of Sora's." Axel continued. "Why don't we go see him?" He extended his hand towards Kairi and Emily. Kairi backed up a little, but Emily stayed her ground.

"Sora?" Kairi asked. Kairi looked like she was about to join him, when a dog's barking could be heard from behind them. Emily and Kairi turned around to see a large yellow dog with black ears running towards them. He went up to Kairi, but suddenly perked up his ears. Emily would have screamed, but she was too frightened to even do that. Four large white creatures appeared around them. They were very strange and frightening looking. They had zippers for mouths, or at least that's what it looked like to Emily.

The dog growled at them. Kairi grabbed Emily's hand in fear, but let go when a loud whistling sound came from behind them. They both turned around to see yet another black portal open, only no one came out of this one. The dog ran over to it, and began barking as if it wanted the girls to follow him. Then Axel spoke up again. Emily had almost forgotten he was there.

"We've all got something in common." he said. "We all miss someone we care about." he tried to show a sad face, but it wasn't very convincing.

"Hey," he continued, coolly, yet darkly. "I feel like we're friends already." Kairi let out a whimper and ran towards the other portal, leaving Emily just standing there. The dog ran into the portal as Kairi said, "You're not acting very friendly. Come on Emily, let's get out of here." she stopped in front of the portal, waiting for Emily.

"I-I can't go. It-it's the only way to save him." Emily cried out, on the verge of tears. Kairi stood in shock.

"Your friend is right, you know." Axel said. Kairi just toughened up her face and ran through the portal. Emily watched her disappear. She reached out towards her, but it was too late. The portal had closed.

"Wise choice." Axel said. "We'll go after Kairi again later. Now come with me, and don't get lost. Got it memorized?" Emily nodded. She wasn't sure if she had done the right thing, but she felt as if she had. It was like the man had said in her dream; it was the only way she could save Sora. Right?

Axel waved his hand lazily, and another dark portal appeared.

"Come on." he said as he walked through it. Emily followed him, making sure to keep close because she was afraid of what might be in there. She closed her eyes and grabbed on to Axel's cloak.

"What are you doing?" he asked her. Emily opened her eyes and looked around. She wasn't frightened, confused was more the word that described her. She let go.

"Sorry." she said. The place that the portal had led to was an infinite space of changing colors, strange symbols floating around everywhere, yet you were unable to touch them. Much like how a rainbow can appear, but is always just out of your reach.

"Okay. Another one of life's little rules. Never, ever, touch me. Got it memorized? I can't stand it when people do it." Axel said, angrily. Emily nodded.

"So, uh, Axel. Where are we anyways?" she asked timidly.

"Just the realm that appears whenever you go into a portal." Axel answered, opening another portal.

"Oh." Emily said, not actually understanding. Axel headed off towards the newly opened portal and Emily ran after him.

The new portal had put them somewhere that Emily didn't recognize. It was extremely dark here. In front of them, a rather large menacing castle stood. To the side of the castle was a moon. It was no ordinary moon however. It was shaped like a heart, and glowing a yellow-gold color. Emily gaped at it. Apparently Axel noticed, because he said, "Yea. You get used to it. Now come on. I've got to report to the Superior." He began walking towards the castle.

Emily followed him in. She had pictured the inside of the castle to be a very dark place, but much to her surprise, it was almost completely white on the inside. Axel opened another portal. He shoved Emily into it (she was too busy gapping around). She followed Axel to another portal and wondered where they were going now. As if he had read her mind he said, "We're going to the Superior's office. Word of caution. Do not make him angry. Got it memorized?" Emily nodded, getting a little annoyed at all his 'got it memorized"'s. She stepped out with Axel.

"Hey. Numeral uno. I've got Emily her, but Kairi got away. Do you want me to go find her?" Axel asked a man in a black cloak like his, only the hood covered his face.

"Not yet. Leave Emily and I alone so I can do some explaining to her first." Emily recognized his voice.

"You're that man from my dreams!" she exclaimed excitedly, pointing at the man. The man chuckled as he let down his hood. He had silver-ish colored hair. And a scar across his face.

"And I was afraid you wouldn't recognize me. Smart girl." he said, in the same voice as he spoke to her in her dreams.

"You may leave now, Axel." The man waited for Axel to leave and then resumed talking again.

"You probably have many questions. Don't pester me with them now, just wait until I am done explaining things to you. First, my name. It is Xemnas, but can refer to me as Superior, or number one. This; where you are right now; is the castle that never was. We're in a world called the world that never was. You see, myself and the other members of Organization XIII were never supposed to exist, along with this world and everything in it. We are nobodies. Beings without hearts. Therefore we cannot feel the way you do. We do not get sad, happy, or angry. Although we know and understand what it means to have these feelings."

"Those creatures you saw on the beach are nobodies too. But we, the organization, are different. We are more powerful beings. When a person dies, a heartless and a nobody are created. If the nobody is a powerful being, then it will take on a resemblance to its counter half, or the person it came from. You saw the giant moon in the sky? It's the key to us being just as real as you. It's called kingdom hearts. It will give us nobodies a chance to _feel _as you do. It's the only way we can truly exist. Now, about your brother. As I said before, he's getting hearts for our kingdom hearts right now, which is what we need him to be doing. But when he comes here, it'll be up to you to get him on the right side. There are only two ways you can save him, and get him home. You must fight him either way." he paused to let some of this sink in, but then continued talking.

"If you defeat him in battle, you will have to unlock his heart with your key blade," Emily tried to ask him what that was, but he ignored her. "Upon doing so, so will show his heart to the right side, and his nobody can join us, while you take his other half back to the islands from which you came from. The other way is that if he defeats you in battle, you must let him unlock your heart." An expression of pure horror came across Emily's face. Xemnas continued talking.

"It is the only other way. If that is what it comes to, then you must let him do it. If you truly care for him, it won't be so hard. He will then realize that he was on the wrong side all along, and join us in our quest. When and if your nobody comes into existence, you won't remember who the other side of you was, but you will be able to join the organization as a true nobody. You are the only one who can do this. Now. Onto this key blade business. First I must ask you an important question. DO you believe that this is truly the only way you can help your brother?" he gave Emily some time to think about it. She understood what she had to do. If she really wanted to save her brother she would have to either unlock his heart, or be unlocked herself.

She nodded and said in the most confident voice she could muster, "Yes. I do." Xemnas smiled. Emily wasn't sure whether to trust his smile, or not to. But she didn't have much of a choice, as the man stood up and began to give her some instructions.

"Your weapon will be a key blade, and dark magic. The key blade you will handle is called the key blade of the innocent of hearts. To access this blade, you must close your eyes, put your hand over your heart, and believe that it is in your hand. If you really are the bearer of this key blade, it will come to you. You must trust that it will. Now, try to summon it."

Emily closed her eyes and put her right hand across her heart. She told herself over and over in her mind that she wanted to save Sora, and get out alive herself. She imagined the feeling (or at least how she thought it might feel) of the handle in her hand. She swung her hand from her heart and felt something metallic and cold resting in her hand. She herd Xemnas clapping slowly. She opened her eyes. She was a bit shocked to see that it had actually worked. It looked just like the key she was holding in her hand. Dark purple handle which matched the color of a rose at the tip of the blade, and the key itself was black.

"Bravo. Nice work. Any time you want, you can summon that key now. Not only does it work like a weapon, but it can unlock most anything that is locked. That is very useful, never forget it. That is why you can even unlock hearts with it. You are not the only one who bears a key. Your brother carries on too. He is more skilled than you at this point, but with some training you'll be right up at his level. Go ahead. Swing it a few times. Get a feeling for it." Emily did as she was told. It felt perfectly balanced in her hand, and she knew she wouldn't get splinters from holding it tightly, like her sword back home.

"Very good, very good." Xemnas said, signaling her to stop. "I shall have one of the other members train you soon. Now onto your other weapon; magic." Emily found herself rather excited to learn what she would be getting next. She was tempted to ask him what kind of magic, but remembered that he didn't like to be asked questions.

"I shall give you the power of time." Xemnas reached down into a pocket located inside of his cloak. He pulled out a long chain with a small silver stop watch on the end of it. It didn't look like anything special to Emily, but then she thought, _if a key can be a weapon, then why can't a simple clock hold magic?_ She took the watch from Xemnas.

"Put it around your neck. Using your left hand, simply by feeling the magic go through your arm and out your finger tips, you will be able to start and stop time. In battle this can be very useful. The only catch there is however, is that when an enemy is frozen, your attacks will do you no good. You simply cannot hurt anyone while they are stopped in time. Go ahead. Try it out. Stop time, attack me with your key blade. Don't worry. You won't hurt me."

A little nervous that this wouldn't work the way Xemnas was telling her, she did her best to concentrate. She closed her eyes and imagined the power of time traveling through her arm and out through her fingertips. She waved her hand in the motion that Axel had done while opening the portals. She didn't feel anything.

"Xem--- sorry. Superior, I don't think---" she opened her eyes. Time had completely stopped. There was Xemnas standing in front of her, but not lifelike. He was like a statue now. Emily reached out and touched him. He felt cold, hard, lifeless.

"He was right." she said aloud. She looked down at her key blade, got into one of the stances she learned long ago, and with a grunt she swung it as hard as she could at him. Nothing. It was as if she had struck a large boulder. The force of her own strength threw her down.

"Whoa." she said. She hadn't realized how strong she really was.

"Now," she thought aloud. "How do I get time to go back the way it was? Just do the same thing?" she left her eyes open this time as she felt the magic run through her arm. She waved her hand again, and reality came back to life.

"Did you do it already?" Xemnas asked her. Emily nodded. Xemnas smiled a dark little smile. "Good." he said. He walked over to a small door Emily had failed to notice. It turned out to be a small closet.

"I have something for you. You'll blend in better if you wear these." he pulled out a neatly folded cloak along with a pair of black gloves, and a pair of black boots. Emily looked at them, then took them and tried everything on. A perfect fit.

"There. An honorary nobody. You'll need a new name to go by. How about---" he was cut off by Emily.

"Xensen." the name simply rolled off her tongue. It had popped into her head like it had been her nick name all along or something. Xemnas raised an eyebrow, but put it down.

"Xensen it is." he replied. Just then a black portal appeared. Axel emerged from it.

"Sorry roman numeral I, but I just located Kairi. Would you like me to go after her?" the red head crossed his arms, waiting for a response from his superior.

"Where is she, Axel? Oh, and may I introduce our honorary nobody, Xensen?" he said, pointing towards Emily, who looked like she would fit right in to the organization, now that she had a weapon in her hand, and a black outfit on. Axel looked at her.

"Xensen?" he asked, trying out the name. "It's cool…I guess."

"Where is Kairi?" Xemnas asked, reminding Axel why he was there in the first place.

"Oh, right." he said. "She ended up somewhere in Twilight Town. Should I go fetch her?"

Xemnas stood for a moment thinking things over.

"Yes. Please do. We don't want an early reunion with her and Sora, now do we." Axel nodded and opened up a new portal. Before he was fully engulfed in it Xemnas added, "Take the girl with you. She needs to get used to traveling around. I have many things in store for her to do. When she comes back you and Demyx will be the ones who train her. But do not underestimate her. Now go." Xemnas shooed them off. When Emily stood up she realized that the key blade had disappeared from her hand. Turning to ask Xemnas why it had gone, he said to her, "Yes. It will do that. When it is not in use it simply goes away for the time being. If you need it again, just summon it the same way you did, only it should come to you faster, you shouldn't need to close your eyes and imagine it anymore."

Emily nodded and joined Axel in the portal. _What and where is Twilight Town? _She asked herself.

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**A/N- was it worth the read? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!???**

_computer-_** hey you with the face!!! yes you!!! (no the person standing out side your window!) click that little review button, or i will be forced to send you an email virus!!! muhahaha!!! yes i am an evil computer!!! muhahaha!!!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer- i own everything. not really. :p**

**A/N- i like this chapter. it was interesting to write. okay. enjoy. **

**yay!! i finally got a review:D ****

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Chapter 7

"So you've got yourself a key blade, huh?" Axel asked as he and Emily moved throughout the realm in between portals.

"Yup." she answered.

"And dark magic? Tell me. What did good old Xemnas give to you?"

"He gave me this stop watch that allows me to stop and start time. At first I didn't believe him, but then when I did it, it was amazing."

"Funny," Axel said. "That's the way it is with a lot of things in life, isn't it." Emily wasn't quite sure what he meant, but nodded anyways.

"So what's this 'Twilight Town' place any way." Emily asked.

"It's just this town." Axel stared off into the distance (at nothing really, since there wasn't really anything to look at). In his eyes, Emily could see hurt. She understood that nobodies couldn't 'feel' from what Xemnas had told her, but she felt that there was a possibility that they could still feel hurt, alone, and maybe even anger.

"Something wrong?" she asked him.

"No! Nothing's wrong! Got it memorized!?" Axel lashed out at her.

"I--I'm sorry." Emily, (or the newly renamed 'Xensen') said. She was afraid Axel might hurt her, but he looked away.

"I'm sorry. Just don't bug me with stupid questions. Got it--"

"Memorized? Yea, I do." Emily finished his sentence for him. Axel laughed.

"He used to do that too…"

"Who?" Emily asked, curious.

"No one." Axel replied. "This is the spot." he continued, stopping.

"Twilight Town?" Emily asked.

"Twilight Town." he repeated.

Emily was going to follow Axel through his portal, but he stopped her.

"Stay here." he said.

"Why?" Emily asked.

"Don't question, just do it, leave this to me. You can't let her see you." Emily nodded, and put her hood over head to help her not be seen. Axel opened the portal and as it opened he asked, "What to you so long, Kairi?"

From inside the portal, Emily could see everything that was going on. She was excited to be reunited with her friend. Emily could see two boys she didn't know, and a girl on an old couch sitting next to Kairi.

"Somehow," Axel said. "I just knew you'd be here. I tell you Kairi, you've got lots of guts, jumping right into the darkness like that." Axel began walking slowly toward Kairi, who stood her ground. The boys launched themselves at Axel, but passed right through him. _One of Axel's powers? _Emily thought.

Axel grabbed Kairi's arm as the girl next to her let out a short scream. Kairi struggled against him. _Come on Kairi. _Emily thought. _Just go with him. You and I will be able to see each other again. _

"Let go of me! Let go!" Kairi yelled, losing her struggle against Axel.

Axel dragged her into the portal and closed it, the dog following behind.

"Stupid dog." Axel muttered as the dog began growling at him. The dog then decided to turn around and run the opposite way. Emily stared at her friend. She wanted to tell Kairi everything she had learned, but she couldn't explain it. She had never been good at explaining things. Kairi stared at the both of them.

"Okay, you're Axel, but whose the other one? I want to know what's going on!" Kairi demanded.

"Why that?" Axel asked, pointing to Emily. "That is our newest member. Not technically a nobody, but according to numero uno, she's the 'honorary organization member'. You, Kairi, are looking at our newest member, Xensen." Kairi looked confused.

Emily slowly put down her hood. Kairi gasped.

"E-Emily?" she barely whispered. Emily nodded.

"It's Xensen now. You'll never guess what I can do! I got this thing and--- here just look." Emily took the watch out from under her cloak. Kairi stared.

"Cool, huh. This stop watch is magic. It allows me to stop time and start it. I wonder…" Emily took a hold of Kairi's arm and waved her hand_. I wonder if I touch her when I stop time, if she'll still be affected by it. _Emily thought.

"Kairi?" Emily asked her. She looked frozen, but Emily wasn't sure if it was the fact that time had stopped, or if Kairi was just scared stiff.

"Is…is time really stopped?" Kairi asked. Emily felt proud that she had figured this out all on her own. Xemnas hadn't mentioned that other people could be with her when she stopped time.

"Yep. Isn't it cool? You haven't seen the coolest part yet! Here. Watch what I can do!" Emily concentrated and put her hand to her heart and brought it down. The key blade materialized in her hand. Kairi was just gaping.

"Here. Watch what happens. You can't hurt people that you've frozen in time." Emily walked over to Axel, who looked like a statue. She hurled the key blade at him to Kairi's surprise.

"No! Don't---whoa." Kairi yelled, her mouth open in shock.

"Yea. It can't hurt him. He's completely frozen. Just like a rock." Emily said, rapping on Axel's arm. Kairi looked at Emily.

"Emily, or Xensen, whatever you want to be called; you're different. Somehow you've changed. I mean, it's only been maybe a couple of hours, but look at you! You look just like him! Sora was going to come back to Twilight Town, and now I don't even know how to get back there! Whatever they've told you, it's a lie."

"You're just jealous that it wasn't you who got the cool powers." Emily spat back, her rage coming from somewhere she didn't know existed. _What am I saying! _Emily thought. _Sora was going to be there, and I've ruined our chances of meeting up with him._

"They're not lying! It's everyone else who doesn't understand how to save Sora! Don't you see Kairi? Sora doesn't know it, but he's on the wrong side. He needs to get away from the light. It's the only way to save him, I understand that now. Don't you see Kairi? Don't you understand? I see now that it's the only way." Emily raged. Kairi shook her head.

"They've lied to you, and you don't even realize it."

"Shut up! You'll understand! They---We'll make you understand! You may not want to save Sora, Kairi, but I do! Why won't you understand!?"

"Emily!" Kairi cried out, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Be quiet!" Emily yelled at her friend. _What's… _Emily thought. _What's wrong with me? I'm so angry at…Kairi…she's making me…so angry. Why? _Emily was becoming exhausted at trying to overcome her feelings of hate. She sunk to the floor. _Kairi's my best friend. Why do I want to hate her so much._

"WHY!?" Emily screamed, on her knees and clutching her head. Tears of frustration were forming in her eyes.

"I don't know." Kairi said, not really sure what else to say. Kairi, who was crying too, went over to try and comfort Emily.

"Get away! I can't be with you any more! You're making my head hurt! It's all your fault!" she screamed out of no where. _No! _She argued back in her mind. _Don't leave me! It's not me saying that! It's something dark inside of me! Don't leave! Please! _She tried desperately to say these words out loud, but it was impossible. _It's not your fault. _

"Okay…" Kairi said, sobbing. "Just go back to real time. Wherever you're taking me, take me there. Just…just get me out of here."

"Fine! I hope they put you somewhere cold." Emily shouted. She waved her hand and time went back to normal. _I'm sorry, Kairi. _Emily thought. She tried desperately to make Kairi hear her thoughts, but she knew that was silly.

"No, don't do---that. Oh. You already did." Axel said, sounding stupid. "Never mind." He looked at the girls, both with tears flowing down their faces.

"Do I even wanna know what happened while I was, if you will, put on pause?" he asked.

"Let's just go." Emily said, looking down at her weapon. She let go of it and it disappeared in a flash of light. After a few minutes of wandering Kairi asked Axel, "Where are you taking me anyway?"

"You're going to the castle. You'll wait in a 'special' room, just for you. Sora will have a hard time finding you there, but there's no doubt that he'll find you eventually." Axel said.

"Oh, you might as well just tell her. We're taking you to the dungeon." Emily spat.

"How did you figure that out? I didn't hear Xemnas say anything about that to you when we left." Axel asked.

"Yea, well. I just guessed. Besides, where else would we be taking her?" Emily asked, a bit sarcastically.

Kairi tried to keep a tough face, but Emily knew that she was scared on the inside. Outwardly she laughed at Kairi's expression, but on the inside she thought, _hang on Kairi. I'm sorry. You'll be okay. Sora _will _find you_. Axel stopped and opened another portal. One of the members that Emily didn't know was standing there as if he was expecting them. He nodded to Axel, and took Kairi by the arm. The yellow dog that had run the other way suddenly jumped out of the closing portal.

"Ah!" yelled Emily. He had startled her. He followed Kairi and the other man.

"Come on Xensen, or Emily. Whichever. I'll get Demyx and we can begin your training." Axel said, leading Emily somewhere.

"Who's that?" she asked.

"Just this really annoying guy. For a quick summary, Demyx controls water with his sitar, and I control fire with two round weapons with spikes on them. You, you have the key blade and time on your side." he explained.

"Is there a training room or something?" Emily asked, curious about the other rooms of the castle. She had just come to realize that this place was going to be her knew home for a while.

"Yes. It's on one of the upper floors. I'm not really sure which one. I usually just use a portal to get where I'm going."

"Then why don't we use one now?" Emily said, sarcastically.

"Good point." Axel said as he opened a portal. They walked through and came out the other side in front of a large white door.

"You sure that this is his room?" Emily asked. All the doors looked the same to her. Axel nodded.

"Demyx. Hey! Demyx!" he called, banging on the door.

"Coming!" someone yelled from the behind the door. The door opened and a man with a type of mullet hairstyle stood inside the frame. He, too, was wearing the uniform. He looked at Axel, then at Emily.

"What do you want, and who's that?" he asked.

"This is our newest member, Xensen. Xemnas wants us to train her. Remember? He told everyone about her coming maybe a week ago?" Axel explained.

"Oh, yea!" Demyx said. "So you really use the key blade!? Cool! Just like Rox…as." he said the last part in a disappointed voice.

"Shut up." Axel said at the sound of the name.

_Roxas… _Emily thought. _Where have I heard that name before…_ She didn't have much time to think on the subject however because Axel and Demyx were already entering a portal.

"Hey! Are you coming? Because if you're not, I'm not going to spend my day with this idiot." Axel said, turning around to look at Emily.

"Hey!" Demyx yelled at him.

"Oh, sorry." Emily said, walking towards him.

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**A/N- i hope that wasn't too strange with the whole personality switch kinda thingy that happened to emily or xensen. which ever name you prefer. ;) **

**More reviews would be just loverly. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer- no. i don't own your ice cream cone. however, i do own kingdom hearts. _ring!_ hold on. thats my phone. hello? what? i don't? anymore? okay. _click_ never mind. i lied. i don't own kingdom hearts anymore. but i do own your ice cream cone now. so hand it over!**

**A/N- two reviews! yay!****

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Chapter 8

After they exited another portal, Emily found herself in a large white room. There were a few exercise machines in the corners, but other than that, the room was an empty one.

"All right. We'll go easy on you at first, but get progressively harder. We'll start with Demyx because he can create water clones for you to go after. Don't use your time power because that's self explanatory. Let's just work on your key blade handling." Axel instructed. Emily nodded. She whipped out the key blade in a fast paced motion. She found that she no longer needed to close her eyes and imagine the feeling of the blade.

"Excellent." Axel said, give a few impressed claps. Emily smiled.

"Okay. I'll start you off with one clone, then we'll move onto two. I won't make them too strong." Demyx whipped out his sitar and played a few chords. A watery creature appeared.

"A water clone?" Emily asked and Demyx nodded.

"Just attack it. I want to evaluate your technique." Axel told her. Emily nodded. She got into her stance and then hurled her key blade at the creature. It melted away quickly.

"How's that?" Emily asked.

"Not bad for a beginner. Try it again. This time the clone will release a series of attacks on you. This exercise is for your defense." Axel said.

"All right, one offensive clone commin' at you." Demyx said as he strummed.

**_8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8_**

After many long battles of offensive, defensive, and combo attacks from the water clones, Emily (who was exhausted) said, "Am I done yet?"

"Not quite." Axel said, summoning his own weapons. Emily stared at him. _Oh great. _She thought.

"What--- what are you planning on doing with those?" she asked him. He got a very suspicious look on his face as he said, "Oh, you'll see." and he hurled a spinning wheel of fire at her.

Without thinking, she waved her hand and stopped time.

"Whoa." she said, looking at the weapon which was frozen above the ground. She looked at the fire on it. It was as still as a yellow-orange piece of ice. She slowly reached for it; curious as to whether it was hot or not. She touched it but quickly drew her fingers away. Nothing. Not hot, just as cold, hard, and lifeless as everything else.

"Awesome." she said aloud. She then situated herself behind Axel and got into a ready stance. She waved her hand once more. She lashed out with a strong blow.

"What the---" Axel said, confused. To him it was as if Emily had disappeared from in front of him, and re-appeared behind him. The force from her blow knocked him down. Not giving Axel a chance to recover, Emily ran towards him and gave her final strike.

"Okay, okay. Enough training. You're an excellent fighter and don't need any more practice. Just fight some dusks the next time you feel like fighting." Axel said as he pushed the key blade out of his face. Emily, who was done with fighting anyways, let go of her key blade, which disappeared in a flash of light. She looked over at Demyx, who was sniggering behind his hand.

"Shut up!" Axel shouted at him.

"Sorry. I probably shouldn't have surprise attacked you." Emily said, offering Axel a hand, which he refused.

"Yea, whatever." Axel said.

"He just doesn't like to be beaten, that's all." Demyx explained to Emily. "Ha. That reminded me off this one time, when Axel was fighting Roxas. He lost so bad! You should have seen it! Roxas---" Demyx stopped.

"Shut up!" Axel yelled again.

"Roxas…" Emily thought out loud. "Where have I heard that name before? Roxas…Oh yea! I remember now! I talked with him!" Axel turned towards her.

"You--- spoke with him?" he asked.

"Yea. Why?" Emily asked, confused. She looked into Axel's eyes and saw the same hurt look she had seen in the realm before.

"Should we tell her?" Demyx asked Axel. For a few minutes, Axel said nothing. He just looked down towards the ground.

"Yea. She probably should know." Axel finally answered.

Axel then went on to explain that Roxas had been a nobody in the organization. Number XIII. The only member Axel actually liked. Roxas was Sora's nobody. On Sora's previous adventure, he had had his heart unlocked, therefore releasing a nobody. Sora was then later put under a sleeping spell by a witch nobody by the name of Naminé. Naminé was Kairi's nobody. Naminé's spell was what made everyone who knew Sora forget him (well, at least Emily was finally getting some answers).

When Sora was finally able to re-awaken, Roxas had to go back into Sora's heart, as Naminé had to go back into Kairi's. Axel laughed slightly when he told Emily that Roxas made him feel like he had a heart, and how for some reason, Sora had the same effect on him. When his story was finished, Emily pondered a few things before finally asking, "So…I have to unlock Sora's heart--- so the organization can have Roxas back? But then… why does _my _heart need to be unlocked if I lose to Sora?"

Axel and Demyx looked down towards the floor.

"Well, as to your first question;" Axel answered. "That's partially the reason." Emily was very confused, but she didn't want to push the matter further.

"Where am I going to sleep?" she suddenly asked. The question obviously threw Axel and Demyx off because of the strange looks they gave her.

"You mean Superior hasn't given you a room yet?" Demyx asked her. Emily shook her head.

"He never mentioned anything about one." Emily said.

"Well, you could stay in my room." Demyx told her. "I've got a pull out couch and everything."

"Yea, and when she dies from your annoyingness, I wonder who'll be getting maximum punishment from number one." Axel said. Emily just laughed.

"Xensen can stay in my room. I've got a decent sized couch." Axel said, getting up and forming a dark portal.

"Okay." Emily said, glad she could finally get some sleep. She yawned.

"Come on." Axel impatiently said, already stepping inside the darkness.

Emily got up, gave a quick wave to Demyx, and joined Axel in the portal. As they walked through the realm trying to find the location to the next portal, Emily could only think of what Axel's room looked like. _Is it big? Are the walls white like everything else? Does he even have a bathroom?_ Were just a few of the questions that wandered in her mind.

"Here we go." Axel said, walking through the portal in front of them. "It's not much, but it's got your basic necessities. Bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room. Nothing special."

Emily looked around. Yep. The walls were white. The room, or rooms, looked something like an expensive hotel suite. A small kitchen (fully equipped), a large living room, and a small hall way with doors that Emily guess led to the bedroom and the bathroom. _For such a big space, it's certainly empty. _Thought Emily, who hadn't noticed Axel had said something to her and then made his way to his room. The only pieces furniture in the living room were a large white couch and a medium sized coffee table that had a glass top.

"Here." Axel shouted, throwing a large throw blanket and a towel at Emily.

"Wha---" Emily said, the stuff hitting her and falling to the floor. Axel laughed and said, "Nice catch. The bathroom's in this door. As for me? I'm going to bed. I suggest you do the same. Who knows what Xemnas has in store for tomorrow. He'll start sending you on missions no doubt. No loud noises. Got it memorized?" he pointed to the bathroom door, went in his room, and shut the door.

"Missions…" Emily thought aloud. She grabbed her towel, looking forward to a nice, relaxing bath. She took her organization uniform off and folded everything neatly on the coffee table. She closed the door as she entered the bathroom and saw a nice large tub. She turned on the faucet and waited for the water to get hot before plugging up the drain. When the tub was filled to her liking, she removed her other clothing, and stepped slowly into the tub, enjoying the heat.

She quickly washed her hair, and wrapped the towel around her head. She closed her eyes and tried to relax. Her mind buzzed with excitement as it replayed many of the events that had happened that day. She remembered how badly she had mistreated Kairi. The feelings of anger and hatred were beyond her control when she had lashed out.

"I'm sorry Kairi. You'll get out of that dungeon. I know you will. I hope it's not too cold…" she said softly to herself. Somehow, she felt as if Kairi had forgiven her, but she knew that was silly.

When she began to drift off to sleep, she splashed some water onto her face, drained the tub, and got out. She unwrapped her hair, dried herself off, and put on her old clothes (she didn't have any pajamas). She walked out of the room and laid down on the couch. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the soft white material.

_**8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8**_

The next morning Emily woke up from someone shaking her.

"Get up! Get up!"

Emily opened her eyes and realized it was Axel.

"Ax..el?" she yawned.

"Jeez you're a heavy sleeper." Axel let go of her and sat down in a chair located in his kitchen.

Emily sat up and remembered where she was. She put on her cloak, gloves, and boots, and joined Axel in his kitchen.

"What do you eat for breakfast around here?" she asked him, her stomach beginning to growl. Axel gave her a curious look.

"Breakfast? Well… I don't usually eat breakfast. But I guess I can check my fridge for something." Axel stood up and went to rummage through his refrigerator. He came back with a glass of milk and an apple.

"Here. I think this is breakfast food." he set the glass down on the counter and handed the apple to Emily. Emily just laughed.

"How can you not know what breakfast food is? Didn't your mom ever make pancakes? Or, even better, waffles?" Emily asked him, biting in the apple. It tasted different from the ones back home, but it was still good.

"I don't have a mom. Nobodies are just created. We come out of the darkness. I don't even think nobodies can have children, although I don't know. I've never tried." Axel explained.

"Oh." Emily said. She realized that there was still much she didn't understand about things in the world, or worlds, now that she knew there was more than just one.

"Hey Axel," she began. Axel looked at her and she continued. "When we got Kairi from that Twilight Town place, and I paused time, I noticed that I had changed somehow. I said some really mean things. I couldn't even apologize for them, no matter how hard I tried. I mean I was horrible to her!" she said, hoping there was some explanation for her actions.

Axel stared at her for a minute or two before saying, "It's the darkness."

"What?" Emily asked, she had hoped she'd get a more explained answer.

"The darkness. It's beginning to surround your heart. Okay, I'm ganna tell you something important, and you can't tell any one I told you. Got it memorized?" Axel's faced had turned into a very serious one. A little confused Emily replied, "Got it." Axel nodded, then looked around as if to see if anyone was watching them.

He leaned in towards her, and spoke softly.

"Don't let the darkness engulf your heart, or there's no hope. That's generally how people turn into heartless. If that happens, your being will die, but a nobody will be created. That's not a good thing, got it memorized? Your nobody will be forced to live in a non-feeling life. It ain't a good life, no matter what anyone tells you." Axel paused and took a breath before continuing.

"Listen. And listen good, because I'm not repeating myself. Xemnas; he's up to no good. He's using you. Your friend, Kairi; she was right. Everyone here is lying to you. _But_, if you let Xemnas know I was talking to you about this, not only will I be punished, but you can be sure that it will not end good for you. He'll probably kill you. He told me that you're just a pawn in his scheme. You know all that saving Sora crap? It isn't true. I know this sounds strange, but you're ganna have to trust me when I say that you're going to have to keep believing that story. If Xemnas finds out; well, like I said. It won't end good."

Emily sat there. She couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it.

"So…so I can't save Sora, then?" she asked quietly.

"Of course you can, I hate to admit it, but the light is the right side. The dark is the evil side. How could you have missed that?" Axel asked. Emily wasn't sure how she had.

"I…don't…know…" Emily answered him. She felt like a fool. _How could I have been so stupid? _She asked herself.

"Remember, do_ not_ tell anyone! Especially Xemnas. Don't let him catch on that you know. You're just going to have to keep playing the part. Got it memorized?" he looked into her eyes. Emily could tell he meant well. She nodded.

"Aw crap!" Axel shouted.

"What?" Emily asked. Axel jumped up from his chair and summoned a portal.

"I was supposed to take you to see Xemnas this morning. And I forgot about it! Damn it. Come on, hurry up and get over here." Emily jumped off her seat and joined Axel in the portal. _All right, _She thought. _Just keep acting like I don't know what he's up to. Great. This should be fun…_

The portal closed behind them and they made their way to the Superior's office.

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**A/N- i wonder what will happen now that emily knows that she is being used? will she be able to keep it a secret? or will xemnas find out? tune into the next update to find out:)**

**By the way, it's going to be a while until i can update agian b/c i just started driving school (which is 3 hours long per night, except friday's and weekends (thank god!)) so don't expect and update until then.**

**I love reviews. if you click that little 'go' button, i would love you too. ;)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer- i can only dream about owning it...**

**A/N- well it looks like my story is slowly catching on! yay! 3 reviews! haha. here's chapter nine!****

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Chapter 9

They exited into the familiar office of Xemnas. He was looking out his window (most likley at his kingdom hearts).

"Superior…" Axel said, but Xemnas didn't give him time to explain.

"You are late. I told you I wanted Xensen here this morning. Axel, I'm beginning to worry about you. Sometimes I get the feeling that you don't want what's best for the organization. It's not just about your being late; I think you know what I mean. If you want my feelings about you to change, I suggest you get your act together." Xemnas said, turning around to face the two of them. Axel glared at him, but held his tongue. Xemnas then turned his gaze to Emily.

"I am in no way blaming you for this." he said, trying to sound reasuring. Emily swallowed hard and nodded.

"Axel, you're dismissed. I wish to speak to Xensen alone." Axel did as he was told.

"Now then," Xemnas continued. "You probably already know this, but the members of the organization get assigned missions. I want you to get a feel for what's happening in the big picture of things. I will have the members take you with them on the missions they are assigned to. You will see a lot of fighting, and I think it will do you good to see what you're going to have to face. It will also give you an opportunity to see Sora and his strengths and weaknesses. That way when the time comes; you'll be ready."

Emily nodded, not sure of what to say. She was trying desperately to keep herself believing that Xemnas was telling her the truth, but it was proving to be very difficult.

"Now then. Your first mission. The organization has been after this one's nobody for a long, long time. He will provide us with great strength. Who is he, you ask? The Beast. He is very strong, and his nobody would be a very valuable member of our organization. You will join Xaldin on this mission. He should be arriving very shortly." Xemnas went back over to his window and began speaking softly to himself. Emily overheard some of his words.

"Soon, my kingdom hearts; soon." She still didn't fully understand the concept of the kingdom hearts. She was not given time to ponder the subject though, because a dark portal had formed and a man stepped out of it. _He must be Xaldin_. Emily thought. She was correct.

"Superior. I'm here to collect the girl." He said. His voice was nonchalant, but had an evil undertone to it. Emily wasn't frightened of him, but she didn't trust him either.

"Xensen. This is Xaldin. Now go with him. Good luck." Xemnas said, waving his hand as a cue for Emily to leave.

"Yes, Superior." She nodded as she joined Xaldin in front of his portal. They walked through it in silence.

"So. You're Xensen; the organizations first non-nobody member. Congratulations. Key blade bearer and holder of time magic. You sound powerful for such a _little_ girl." Xaldin said as he and Emily walked through the realm, searching for their exit portal.

"Yes sir." Emily told him, not liking his tone. They didn't converse much after that. They walked for what felt like fifteen minutes before finding their exit point.

"Here we are. Put on your hood." Xaldin said, covering his face with his own. Emily did as she was told, and followed Xaldin out.

They walked into a dark room that had been trashed. There was a large bed that was broken, along with several other various items (Emily couldn't make out what they were; they were so torn up). _Was there a fight in here? _Emily wondered. Emily had to hold back a scream when her eyes fell on a humongous creature with a purple cloak. _He must be the Beast_! Emily thought.

Xaldin walked over to him and began talking. Emily followed him, silent.

"It's time you dealt with Belle." he said coolly. _Belle…who's Belle? His enemy, or what? _Emily questioned.

"She's scheming to take everything you have." he continued. As he spoke, Xaldin began moving around the room. Emily stood there, listening intently to what he was saying. Xaldin continued his speech. "This castle, your precious rose. And then--- your life."

Emily guessed that the 'precious' rose was the one the Beast was hanging over. She wasn't sure if Xaldin was making the story about Belle up, or if he was being truthful. _He's probably lying_. She thought. _It seems the organization is built up of liars_.

"Trust no one. Feed your anger!" Xaldin said, turning around to face Beast.

"Only anger will keep you strong." he said with a clenched fist.

"I've had enough of strength." Emily heard the Beast speak for the first time. His voice was deep and menacing, but filled with sorrow. Emily almost felt sorry for him.

"There's only one thing I want." he continued, starring intently at his rose. On closer examination, Emily saw that the rose had a magical sparkle to it. She wanted to know if the rose _was_ magic, but kept her curiosity to herself.

"What?" Xaldin asked. "To love, and be loved in return?" he said it almost sarcastically. Emily felt that the organization must have been using Beast. They didn't care about feelings, seeing as they couldn't feel.

"Who could ever love a beast?" Xaldin asked, pointing to the Beast to add effect. If Emily hadn't been sided with the dark side, she would have told Xaldin to knock it off.

Emily jumped as Beast let out a roar of frustration. After Emily turned, she felt herself go stiff as a wash board. Someone had entered the room with them. Three people were standing at the door way. A large dog holding a shield, a large duck holding some sort of staff, and a boy; wielding a key blade. However it was different from hers. It had a golden handle, and a silver blade.

"Sora?" she whispered to herself, not believing that he could actually be standing in the same room as herself.

Xaldin turned to face the intruders and he said, "See? She has accomplices." After his remark, Emily was positive that the organization was lying to the poor Beast. Emily couldn't do anything about it though. She knew she would be severely punished.

Without taking actual steps, Xaldin hovered off the ground and moved backwards. He waved his hand and a type of bee's wax fortressed encased the Beast, Sora, and his friends. Xaldin created a portal and said, "Come, Xensen." Emily rushed over to him, took one last look at her brother, whom she hadn't seen in over a year, and let the darkness enclose around her.

"That…that was Sora, wasn't it?" Emily asked Xaldin. He nodded as he replied, "Yes. Do not underestimate him. He's a key blade bearer, like yourself, but he is more highly skilled than you are at this point." Emily nodded, wondering what they were going to do next.

"Come." Xaldin said. He pointed a finger and created two small holes, no bigger than an inch in diameter. He motioned for Emily to be quiet, and to look through the hole.

_Spying… _she thought. She put her eye close to the hole, and closed her other one. She saw Sora give the Beast a heavy blow from the key blade. The Beast fell to the floor and laid there for several minutes before getting up. A small clock-like man walked up to him.

"Cogsworth…what happened?" the Beast panted. The little clock stuttered all of his words before being interrupted by the duck. Emily could barely understand him.

"Well," he said. "You put every body down there in that dungeon!" The Beast, who was obviously confused, asked, "I did what?"

"Eh…you did." the clock said timidly to the floor. Then Sora spoke up. Emily remembered his voice from when he had spoken to her that day she and Kairi both fainted.

"Who were those two guys you were talking to? The short one and the tall one, dressed in black?" he asked. The Beast gasped as he shouted Xaldin's name.

"That's his name. As for the other one; I've never met him before." he said with a huge sigh. _I'm a girl_. Emily thought and then she thought she heard Xaldin give a soft chuckle, but chose to ignore him.

"He and the other one; they came from the darkness. Xaldin…he used my anger to control me!" the Beast said, getting on the verge of serious rage. _So that's how they were controling him… _Emily thought. The Beast bent down to the floor as he continued his explanation.

"He took all my sorrow, sadness, my pain--- and turned it into rage." The Beast looked at his hands. "There was nothing I could do. I could no longer see the truth." Then the large dog spoke up. Emily had to try very hard not to laugh at him; he spoke so funny.

"Well I'll be! That must be why you threw all of your friends down there into the dungeon. You wanted to make sure you didn't hurt 'em. Right?" _Well, _Emily thought. _He's obviously not the brains of the group_. She smiled at her sarcastic remark.

"Was that it? Was it to protect them?" The Beast must have lost total control of his senses when under control of Xaldin. Emily wondered what it must have been like to not know anything that was going on around her.

"Sure." the dog answered. "We know you're good inside." The duck nodded and the clock man said, "He's right!" with a jump. "We've all seen how kind you can be master! After all… Belle can see the goodness in your heart, but I'm afraid you've yet to---" he was cut off.

"Belle!" the Beast cried. He let out a huge exasperated sigh as he said, "I've mistreated her and been so selfish."

Then Sora spoke up again. It warmed Emily's heart when she heard him speak. It reminded her of all the time they had spent with each other and their friends at the island. "She didn't say anything about that." The Beast covered his face with his hands. "She'd never tell anyone of my cruelty. She's too good."

"Why don't you just go talk to her?" Sora asked.

"But---" the Beast started.

"No excuses! C'mon. We'll go with you."

"Wha---hey!" Emily said, the hold she was spying through had disappeared. Xaldin looked at her and said, "Foolish Beast. Superior will not be pleased with me if I don't bring him the nobody he's expecting. We've got one shot at this. Hurry up. We've got to find Belle." He began walking in another direction. Wondering where they were going, Emily ran after him. Xaldin tried to explain what he was planning, but Emily was too engrossed in her own thoughts to pay attention.

_**8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8**_

They exited another portal that lead into a large room that had a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling. There was a pretty woman in there wearing a blue dress with a white apron. She turned around to look at them.

"I'm warning you, you'll be sorry!" she yelled at them. Emily wondered what they'd be sorry for. After all, she hadn't paid attention to Xaldin's plan.

"Belle! Where are you!?" Emily heard Beast's familiar voice. Belle yelled back to him, "Beast help! I'm in the ballroom!" Xaldin grabbed Emily's arm, and yanked her into a portal. Before closing it he waved his hand and explained, "I'm summoning a heartless." And that was all he said. Emily nodded. She knew what a heartless was, but had never seen one before.

As Xaldin closed the portal around them, Emily saw Belle running across the large room, turning back to look at something or someone Emily couldn't see. The portal closed.

"We must wait. No doubt Sora will finish that heartless. It wasn't a very strong one. Let's give him ten minutes." Xaldin instructed. Emily nodded. _Come on Sora… finish it off! _She cheered him on in her head. After sitting around doing nothing for ten minutes, Xaldin stood up and nodded at Emily telling her it was time.

He went through a portal, Emily trailing behind him. They appeared behind Sora who shouted, "We did it!" he swung his key blade triumphantly.

"So you think." Xaldin told him. Sora turned around to face him, suprised that Xaldin had suddenly appeared.

"Xaldin! And you, his accomplice!" the Beast roared, charging at the both of them. Emily gasped, grabbing Xaldin's cloak.

"Farwell." Xaldin said, quickly creating a dark portal around himself and Emily.

"Superior won't yell at you about this, but I'll be receiving some sort of punishment for it." Xaldin spat at Emily, his voice made Emily feel as if it were her fault the mission had failed.

"Um…Xaldin?" Emily asked, he said nothing, but Emily continued. "The rose… was it--- did it have---"

"Was it a magic rose? Yes. It was. If the Beast can first love someone, and they love him back, the curse will be broken. He will no longer be a Beast, but a man. He has until that rose drops all its precious petals." Xaldin explained.

Emily nodded. Xaldin began to speak again.

"He's unlocked another road. Superior's really going to have it in for me." Emily wondered what the heck he was talking about, but didn't question him. He seemed mad enough as it was. They walked in silence as they walked through the realm, searching for their exit, and when it came, they stepped out into Xemnas's office.

Xemnas was sitting in his chair.

"Superior---" Xaldin started.

"You have failed me Xaldin. I expected better from you." Xemnas said in an evilly cool voice.

"I---it was that Sora kid! He came and ruined my perfect plan. I was this close to having that Beast's nobody!" Xaldin said heatedly.

"Ah yes. Sora does seem to ruin our plans a lot lately. Xensen." Xemnas suddenly said her name.

"Hmm!?" she asked, a bit startled.

"You may leave. I'm need to have a talking to with Xaldin. Axel!" Xemnas cried. Emily was wondering if Xemnas had some kind of magic that allowed him to be heard from any distance. Just as he had called out the name, Axel appeared from a portal.

"You called, number one?" he asked looking from Xaldin, to Emily, to Xemnas.

"Yes. Take Xensen now. She's probably tired and could do with some resting up for whatever the next day brings." Xemnas said.

"Yea, well come on then." Axel said, grabbing Emily's arm and pulling her through a portal. Once the portal had fully closed itself, Axel turned to Emily and said, "So how'd it go? Did you see Rox---I mean Sora?" Emily nodded.

"He's grown up a bit. He's a lot taller than I remember, and his voice changed, but other than that, he's still the Sora I know. I'm kinda glad he lost his old red shorts. His black ones are a lot cooler." Emily then went on to explain everything that had happened.

By the time she was through, she was sitting on the couch eating a sandwich that Axel had sloppily thrown together.

"It'll probably go the same way tomorrow, except a different member. Xaldin's receiving his punishment no doubt. Just keep your act up and no one should expect a thing." Emily nodded. By the time Axel had said he was going to bed, Emily was already half asleep. She put the blanket over herself and fell asleep instantly.

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**A/N- so what'd you think? it was her first mission and there's many more to come. :)**

**(if you click the go button down there, a large magical lepricon will come out of your computer and give you gold. but only if you review!)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer- nope**

**A/N- yay! reviews:D excitedness!**

**Any who... here's chapter diez! enjoy****

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Chapter 10

Emily woke early next morning, or at least she figured it was early (it always looked the same outside). She sat up and looked to see if Axel was awake, but he wasn't. She stretched and got off the couch and made her way over to the kitchen. She yawned lazily as she searched the refrigerator for some food.

There was only a half carton of milk left, and an orange. She sighed as she poured herself a glass. She went over to the chairs and sat down, picking at her orange peel.

"Wonder where Xemnas will send me today…" she wondered aloud.

"Probably off with another member. I think he's sending Demyx on a mission today." Axel said, startling Emily.

"You just get up?" she asked him.

"Nope. Been up for an hour. Just practicing some magic in my room, and I took a shower earlier." He joined her at the table.

Emily peeled the segments of her orange apart, and ate them one by one, spitting out the seeds onto a napkin_. I wonder where Xemnas will be sending Demyx… he doesn't seem the fighter type… _Emily thought. Her train of thought was interrupted however by a loud voice she recognized as Xemnas's.

"_Axel! Bring Xensen to my office at once!"_ his voice echoed from nowhere. Axel stood up and nodded.

"Come on. You're off to go somewhere. Just so you know… Demyx? Yea… not exactly the best fighter. He'll be depending on you a lot." Axel said, smirking.

Emily nodded as she quickly dressed into her cloak. Axel then created a portal which they walked through. Emily wasn't as nervous as she had been the yesterday. She thought she was doing a good job of acting. It didn't seem as if Xemnas was expecting a thing. She smiled to herself.

"You should definitely pay more attention, Xensen." Axel said, grabbing Emily's shoulder. Emily looked up, startled.

"Wha---?" she asked.

"If I hadn't stopped you, you would have kept going. Don't get so lost in your thoughts." Axel pushed Emily through the exit portal.

When Xemnas's office came into focus, she saw Demyx standing in the room, Xemnas handing him some sort of white notecard.

"Hey!" she said with a wave.

"Hey yourself." he said back.

"Demyx," Xemnas said. He was yet again looking out at the kingdom hearts. "You know the mission. Do not fail me; there's been to much failing lately."

"Yes Superior." Demyx nodded. He then conjured a portal and motioned for Emily to follow him through it.

Emily wasn't sure if Demyx knew that she knew that she was being used, so she decided not to talk about it.

"How's your fighting going? Did you get any fighting time in while you were on a mission with Xaldin?" Demyx asked as they walked on, searching for their exit.

"Not really, no." Emily answered. Curious as to where they were going she asked, "Where's this mission taking place?"

"The Olympus Coliseum; mostly the underworld." Demyx answered.

"Oh. What're we doing there?" Emily asked him. She felt much more comfortable talking to Demyx than she did Xaldin. He didn't have as big of an air of mystery as the Xaldin.

"It's kinda hard to explain." Demyx said, scratching his head. "I'm not the best explainer." he gave a short laugh.

"That's okay. I'll probably figure it out on my own." Emily said, disappointed. It annoyed her that no one ever told her what was going on. She had barley understood what the point of Xaldin's mission was.

They walked in silence until they finally found their exit portal.

"Put up your hood. It makes it harder for people to find out our identities." Demyx explained. Emily would've pointed out the fact that she already knew the hood's purpose, but she kept quiet. When they exited, they found themselves in a dark, grey stoned place.

"Is this the underworld?" Emily whispered. Demyx nodded his head.

"Hey! Who are you?!" a woman in a purple dress asked them.

"Ah--" Emily gasped, the woman made her jump about a foot.

"Ah… leave her." Demyx said, snapping his fingers. Three medium sized heartless appeared in forms that resembled dogs.

"Come on!" Demyx yelled, grabbing Emily's arm and dragging her. They could hear the woman's screams as the ran down a long twisting hallway.

"Were those heartless?" Emily asked.

"Yep." Demyx answered her.

Demyx seemed to be lost in his thoughts as he slowly paced around the room. Emily decided that it would be okay for her to examine the place, so she went over to one of the walls. It reminded her of the secret cave back at home, save for the cave drawings. She noticed a large torch burning on the side of one of the walls. Instead of the yellow-orange flames she was used to, the flame in this lamp burned blue. She was fascinated by it.

"Hey, Demyx. Why does this…flame…turn…blue…?" She had turned to find that Demyx was nowhere in sight. She began panicking. She started running, she didn't know where. She just picked the hallway nearest her and ran down it. While running, she saw three figures coming down another corridor that was connected to the one she was in. She heard a voice that she recogized belonged to Sora's duck friend call out, "The organization!", but she didn't care. Her only goal was to find Demyx.

The pathway she was following eventually lead off into a large circular chamber. There she was Demyx running out of another corridor at the opposite end of the room. He was running faster than she'd ever seen anybody move.

"Demyx?" she panted out. She heard footsteps from behind her and saw Sora and his friends come out of the corridor she'd come from. Demyx was running straight for Sora, and for a split second, Emily thought they were going to collide.

"Run! Run away! Come on Xensen!" Demyx yelled, sounding very frightened. Emily ran after him. Sora, who thought he was going to fight, put down his key blade and said, "…Okay…". Demyx stopped before he entered another hallway and created a portal, which Emily barely ran into in time.

"What--- was--- that--- all--- about?" she panted out. Demyx shook his head, catching his breath.

"Hades--- don't mess with that guy!" he shouted. Emily knew that Hades was the god of the underworld (she had taken a Greek and Roman mythology class in sixth grade). She knew that he wasn't someone you wanted to meet. She nodded in response.

After she and Demyx calmed down a bit, Demyx spoke up.

"We've got to go back. Come on! I can't fail again!" Wondering what he was talking about, Emily followed him as he began walking towards an exit portal that had appeared. It lead them back into the underworld; in front of a very large door.

"Now…" Demyx said, examining the door. Emily watched him, wondering what the heck was going on. It seemed that no one was ever going to explain these missions to her. She wasn't entirely sure why she had to go with the members. It didn't help her much. All she did was feel sad because Sora always ended up being there with her. It bothered her that she couldn't reveal herself to him. She knew Xemnas would… well do horrible things to her if he found out that she had allied with Sora.

As she continued to watch Demyx examine the door, she heard the same footsteps as before. _Oh, great. _She thought. She and Demyx turned their heads at the same time.

"Huh?" Demyx asked, staring at the trio. "You!" he shouted, pointing. Emily just continued to stare. Demyx removed his hood. _What're you doing!? _She yelled in her head. She wondered if she should do the same, but came to the conclusion that she should keep hers on.

"Wait a sec…Roxas?" Demyx asked, still continuing to point at Sora.

_What are you talking about!? That's Sora! Don't you know that? _Emily tried to say, but remained silent.

"Excuse me?" Sora asked, wearing a very confused face. Emily had the same face on as he did.

"Roxas? Oh… it's no use." Demyx said, giving a small stomp with his foot.

"What are you talking about?" questioned Sora. Emily was wondering the same thing.

"Let's see here…" Demyx said, taking a piece of paper out of his pocket. He began reading something out loud. It suddenly occurred to Emily that the missions Xemnas had for the organization were written on pieces of paper. She hadn't paid much attention before, but she did remember Xemnas handing Xaldin and Demyx something before they created their portals.

"'If the subject fails to respond," Demyx read. "'Use aggression to liberate his true disposition.'… Right…" Emily almost laughed, remembering that Axel had said that Demyx wasn't the most aggressive member. Demyx, leaning in toward Emily said, "Did they ever pick the wrong guy for this one…" Emily nodded.

"You're bizarre." Sora pointed out.

Demyx took something out of his pocket. It was gold, and had a cloud with a lighting bolt coming out of it on it. _What is that? I'm so confused… _Emily thought.

"He's gatta be the thief!" Goofy accused.

"Thief of what!? Why am I never told anything!" Emily blurted out, surprising herself at her own loud tone. She continued ranting, trying to imitate a man's voice, "'Oh. Let's send Emily on a mission. We wont tell her anything that's going on because she's a silly little girl that won't understand anything. Then she can see Sora, and feel really sad. Yea. That sounds like a good plan!'" Emily pulled off her hood, her face becoming hot.

After she said it, she clasped her hand over her mouth.

"Er--- no. That's not what I meant. I--- uh---" She couldn't think of anything to say. She became aware that all eyes were on her.

"Uh--- um--- Xensen---" Demyx stuttered nervously.

"What--- what did you call yourself?" Sora suddenly asked, staring at her, perplexed.

"What's going on!" the duck stormed.

"Uhh---" the dog said.

"Uh---" Demyx said. "Put your hood back on Xensen. I've gatta finish this." Demyx raised his hand in the air, and the small gold object began illuminating the place with light. It disappeared and was replaced with Demyx's sitar. Emily summoned her key blade, not sure of what else to do. She had put her hood back on. She could feel her pulse rising. Demyx and Sora commenced in fighting, but Emily stood back. She didn't want any trouble. She stood back hiding in the shadows.

She watched as Demyx strummed his sitar, creating water clones, and many other water-type weapons. He never actually physically attacked Sora. After learning Demyx's pattern, Sora began hitting Demyx, and used a few magic spells that Emily didn't recognized. The duck and the dog handled the water clones that Demyx tried to find time to create.

Sora won the fight quickly. Demyx stepped back, wincing in pain.

"Roxas… come back to us. Come on Xensen." H created a dark portal around them. Emily gave a small wave along with a nervous smile before the darkness encased them.

"Em---" but that was all she heard Sora say before he was gone.

"You okay?" Emily stood next to Demyx, who was clutching his arm. He nodded. "I'll be fine." Emily wasn't so sure, but took his word for it.

"Hey," she said as they began walking. Demyx looked down at her.

"Promise not to tell Xem--- number one about my little mishap? I didn't mean for Sora to see--- I just wish I could have more information about what was going on." Emily said, watching her feet move.

"Yea. I won't tell. Uh---" Demyx suddenly stopped walking. He began frantically searching his pockets for something.

"Oh no! It's gone!"

"What's gone?" Emily asked him.

"The pendent! I lost it! Ah jeez!" He said, smacking himself in the forehead.

"Was that that thing you were holding back there?" Emily asked, referring to the golden object.

"Yea. Aw man. I'm really in for it. I'm ganna have to clean something again; without using my element. Darn it!" Demyx shouted. Emily didn't think that sounded so bad, considering Xemnas was capable of much worse. She laughed at the thought of Demyx cursing at a sponge and a bucket of water, scrubbing a wall.

They walked for a few minutes without saying anything to each other. Demyx was muttering to himself, while Emily began thinking about her mess up. _Why did I have to go and do that! I should have kept my mouth shut, and my hood up. I can't have Sora recognize me. Not yet, anyways. Gah--- I'm so stupid!_ Emily thought. Then another thought went through her mind, and she decided to ask Demyx about it.

"Hey Demyx. Back there. Why did you call Sora Roxas? I mean, I understand that Roxas is Sora's nobody, but that doesn't mean they look exactly alike, does it? I mean, haven't you seen Sora before?"

"It was part of the mission. I was trying to coax the Roxas half of Sora out. I had to do it that way, or I had to 'use aggression'. Like I said, they picked the wrong guy. Aggression isn't really my thing. I'm a more laid back kinda guy." Demyx explained. Emily nodded. _I wonder what Roxas looks like. Maybe one day I'll get to meet him…_ She thought. She got lost in her thoughts, like she did most of the time, and almost missed the exit portal. If it wasn't for Demyx grabbing her and pulling her through, she would've been trapped in the realm.

"I hope you've brought back good news, Demyx." Xemnas said in a threatening tone of voice. He was sitting in a chair, his hands neatly folded underneath his chin. Demyx gulped and did a nervous laugh.

"I suggest that you leave Xensen. You shouldn't have to see me mad, when after all, it wasn't your fault." he said, calmly, but with an air of annoyance in his voice. Emily nodded.

"Axel!" Xemnas called. A few seconds later Axel was standing in a portal. Emily went through it and waited until they were back at Axel's place, where she could explain everything.

She told him the whole story, feeling angry again that she never knew about anything that was going on. She didn't say it out loud, but she thought that she was just a third wheel when she tagged along. Just something to have there with you, like a dog. So you weren't alone. She thought that it was either for that reason, or she was a type of 'life line'; someone who could die first before the nobodies. She felt her eyes heat up with steamy tears.

"I'm going to bed." she said heatedly, not giving Axel time to ask any time to ask any questions. Axel merely nodded, and went to bed himself. The tears flowed silently as the scene of her revealing herself in front of Sora replayed over and over in a continuous nightmare.

She hoped Demyx hadn't told on her to Xemnas…

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**A/N- okie dokie. end chpater 10. comments, questions?**

**leave them in a review! ;)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer- i own nothing. **

**A/N- idk. this chapter might be kinda boring, but i feel that it had to be done. It describes alot of things you already know. but read it any ways. ;)

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**Chapter 11**

When Emily woke up the next morning she saw Axel already sitting in the kitchen.

"What--- what time is it?" she asked, groggily. Axel just shrugged his shoulders. Emily let out a sigh. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, but remained seated on the coach. She began thinking about the organization. There were thirteen members, well, twelve now, since Roxas had left. She had only met four of them; Xemnas, Axel, Demyx, and Xaldin.

She thought that if she had some free time, she would ask Axel a few questions about the organization.

"Has Xemnas called for me yet?" she asked.

"Believe me," Axel started. "If he called for you, you'd know. You never know, there could be no missions he wants you to go on today. It's a rare occasion, but it happens."

"Oh. That's good, because there's a few things I wanted to ask you about. I was just wondering some things about Organization XIII. Like, for instance, why do you still call yourselves Organization _XIII_, when there are only twelve?" She sat down in the chair across from Axel.

"Ah. I suppose it's because once Roxas joined, there were thirteen of us. The name just stuck I guess. Plus Organization XII just doesn't sound as threatening, does it?" Axel explained.

"Oh, I see." Emily said.

"Are there any other questions you'd like to get off your chest?" Axel asked her.

"Well, actually…" Emily started. "Now that you mentioned it, I have a lot of questions. I don't know--- just tell me everything you can. Everyone's names, what they look like, stuff about them…" Emily looked at Axel, who laughed and said, "I wondered when you were ganna ask me this stuff." Axel paused and sighed, as he sat back into his chair.

"Okay. Well, I'll just go down the list and tell you what I know. Number one. That's Xemnas, obviously. He keeps a lot of stuff to himself most of the time. He's our leader--- but you already knew that. As far as I know he's this guy named Xehanort's nobody. Don't know what it means, but it's what I know. He built the organization with the purpose of the kingdom hearts. Our main 'mission', if you will, is to keep Sora alive long enough for Kingdom hearts to be completed. Then he wants to just--- kill him I guess." Axel stopped to take a sip of what Emily guessed to be coffee.

"Number two. Xigbar. I don't like him much myself. He's the guy with the eye patch. I don't know that much about him. So, onto number three; Xaldin. I believe you've met him before. He's--- an okay guy I guess. He uses wind; you know, like I use fire, and Demyx uses water. Moving on. Number four. His name was Vexen. He was one of the founding members of this organization. You see, he opposed Marluxia's, (we'll get to him later),Marluxia's plans to take over the organization, and at the time I sorta--- well--- I destroyed him." Axel gave a slightly nervous laugh.

"Heh--- yea. Okay, anyway," Axel said at the horrified look on Emily's face. "Number five. He was Lexaeus. He was also a founding member. He too rejected Marluxia's plans to overtake the organization. He had some other random plans of his own, but they failed, resulting in his over all demise. Number six. Zexion. He was annoying, but not to Demyx's extent." This made Emily laugh, but Axel kept going. "He didn't like to do the dirty work. He made other people do it for him; we all hated it. His own stupid schemes ended up killing him off." Emily took this in. It seemed most of the members of the Organization met their demise some time ago.

"Oh, number seven. Saïx. Don't want to mess with him. Out of all of us, he's the one who knows how to mess with a heart the most. I guess he's the most strong willed being out of all of us. Do not get on his bad side, seeing as you still have a heart. Number eight. Ha. Can you guess who that is?" He laughed at the strange look Emily gave him.

"I have no idea." Emily said, which made Axel laugh more.

"It's me!"

Emily stared at him. She felt embarrassed.

"Sorry--- I had no idea…"

"It's okay. Guess there's not much to say about me--- except that I'm the best here. Ha, you should've seen the look on your face."

"Any way…" Axel said, after he had laughed at Emily some more. He stopped because Emily had resorted to the death glare.

"Number nine. That would be Demyx. Ugh. I hate being right next to him in rank. At least I'm better than he is. I think I'd kill myself if I was below him. Well, you know Demyx pretty well, so I wont go in depth there. Onto number ten. Luxord. You've seen him before. He's the one that took your friend Kairi to the dungeon. He, like you, can mess with time. He's more of a manipulator rather than a pauser like yourself. Rather than fighting the normal way, he likes game-like battles, I guess that's how to explain it." Axel paused again, taking another sip of his coffee, or whatever it was.

"Now to number eleven. Marluxia. Told you we'd get to him soon enough. He tried to lead a rebellion. For I while I was loyal to him; it seemed like a logical idea at the time. You see, he wanted to seize the power of the key blade. I later betrayed him; it's kinda my fault he's not with us any longer. I suppose that it was Roxas that made me realize that Marluxia was up to no good. Then there's number twelve. She was the only female member of the organization---" He was interrupted be a loud cough from Emily.

"Oh," Axel said. "I meant, _Nobody_ member of Organization XIII. Her name was Larxene. I suppose you could say that I liked her for a time. She really didn't share the same feelings as I did. Anyway, we both supported Marluxia; that is until I turned from him. Larxene stayed with him to the end though. I was kinda sad to see her go. And then there was my favorite out of all these kooks. Roxas; number thirteen. He was like the little brother I never had; or at least in this form anyway. I don't know if my counter half had any siblings.

"Roxas had been threatening to leave for a while. He said no one would miss him, but I told him I would. He didn't care. One night, he just upped and left. He got in some kind of fight. I don't really know what happened. Just that some man had taken Roxas, and made him forget everything. He made a little town; Twilight Town, and placed Roxas there. For a while, it was my mission to get him back. I tried desperately to get the Roxas I knew to come back, but I had to face the facts: he was gone. He and I battled, and I was lucky enough to survive. He too wielded a key blade. He could even use two at a time if he wanted to.

"That night was when Sora and Roxas reunited into one body. That's when I began turning my back on the organization. I sort of feel for your brother. I don't know how to explain it. I suppose it's because Roxas is apart of Sora. Sora's name is in Roxas's name for cryin' out loud. Take the X out, and you're left with R, O, A, and S. Rearranged they spell Sora. Sorry, that was totally off topic. Anyway, so I've been slowly turning away from the organization. But a part of me wants to stay. It wants Roxas back. And the only way to do that is to kill Sora. Sorry. Don't look at me like that. I don't want to kill your brother. That's the darkness in me. It can't be helped sometimes." Axel stopped talking.

Emily sat lost in her thoughts. _He really wants this Roxas guy back, doesn't he. _Emily thought. _I wonder if there's a way to get him back with out harming Sora? I mean, they both survived apart from each other before. Right?_ She continued to think on this subject until she looked at the clock on Axel's stove. It read 3:00. They had been talking for a full hour.

"Jeez Axel," Emily said. "You sure do talk a lot." Axel glared at her.

"Hey," he suddenly said. "Do you wanna have a rematch? In the practice room? I'm in a battling mood, how 'bout you?"

"Sure!" Emily said excitedly.

_**8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8**_

Once they entered the practice room, Axel locked the door shut.

"No interruptions." he said. Once he fully locked the door, he continued, "No holding back; from either side! I suppose I'll allow you to use your time magic. But that means I don't have to hold back on you." Emily nodded at his conditions, a little nervous thinking about Axel's full power. He summoned his weapons, and she summoned her key blade.

"Ready?" Axel asked, Emily nodded. "Then have at it!" he said, with a throw of his wheel. Emily dodged out of the way, the weapon barley missed her ear.

"Nice move." Axel said, the wheel returning to him. Emily ran towards him, lashing out with her key blade, but Axel deflected it.

"Aw, come _on. _You can do better than that!" Axel yelled at her.

"You asked for it!" Emil cried, releasing her newest move on him. It was a combo attack of four motions. She stuck him once before leaping up into the air, flipping over him to his other side, where she struck him in midair, landed, and struck him again.

He stumbled backwards.

"When did you learn to do that!?" he asked.

"Doesn't matter when." she said, running towards him to release another brutal attack. Axel had a ball of fire engulf his wheel, and began to throw it at her. Emily, who knew she was to close to get out of the way, waved her hand and paused time, just long enough to get out of the way, and then restarted it.

The weapon zipped passed her as she took the opportunity of Axel's confusion to strike him with her combo once more. She pinned him to the ground and took a final blow, missing his chest on purpose. She struck the floor instead, driving the key blade a good three inches into it. She got off of Axel, and stood up, using the key blade for support. She was breathing heavily, as was Axel.

"Very good." he said, also standing up. "I'm very impressed. You know, you should name that special attack of yours."

"What do you mean?" Emily asked him, she hadn't really thought about naming attacks, she just thought that they were--- well a series of multiple attacks. Nothing more, just a special thing.

"You know--- like give it a special name that only applies to it. Like a jump attack would be where you do only one jump, and a strike with your weapon. Yours needs something more fancy than that, though." Axel said, exampling by jumping and throwing one of his disks at the wall.

"Oh." Emily said, thinking of a name. "How 'bout the 'Flip Strike'?" she asked. Axel shook his head, "Nah--- I'm sure that's been taken. I know---" he snapped his fingers. "The Nes-nex Attack. I used your organization name backwards. Pretty cool, huh." Emily nodded, mentally spelling 'Xensen' backwards. She then spelled 'Emily' backwards. Ylime. It's a good thing he didn't choose to spell my real name backwards… She thought. She laughed out loud.

"What? You don't like it?" Axel asked. Emily shook her head.

"No. I like it. I was thinking about my other name backwards. Ylime." she giggled some more.

"Yill I'm?" Axel said, pronouncing it out loud. Emily nodded.

"Yea. That _is_ strange." Axel said. "We should head back to my room. Come on." Axel said, unlocking the door, and creating a portal. Emily walked through it.

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Once back at Axel's, they sat and discussed many other different types of attack combos. Emily even tried to perform several of them. She could do some, but most of them were far to complicated. She usually ended up falling, which resulted in laughter from her and Axel.

They ate dinner, which was, like it always was, a sloppy sandwich.

"Today was nice." Emily commented. Axel looked at her and thought before saying, "Yea, it was kinda nice. It must have been nice for you to get a break from all that serious mission stuff."

Emily nodded.

"Hey, Axel---" Emily started. She waited for him to look her in the eye before continuing. "I--- am I ever going to see you again? I mean I'm going to leave sometime. I hope. Most likely when Sora, Kairi, Riku, and I all reunite. I don't plan on staying here forever…" she trailed off.

"Maybe. Probably not. Those with hearts are meant to be with those who have hearts. They shouldn't be with a bunch of nobodies. Let's face it, I'm heartless. I don't _feel_ anything. I may appear to be happy, but it's all an illusion. When I say that I like you, Xensen, it means nothing. I don't hate you, love you, anything. No matter how hard I try to convince myself that that's not true--- it doesn't work." Axel said, looking down at the other half of his sandwich.

"It doesn't have to be like that, Axel. If I never found out that there were things called nobodies, I would have thought that you had a heart. It's hard for me to accept the fact that you're--- well what you are. You and Demyx seem different than the other members."

"Don't compare me with Demyx." Axel said, angrily.

"Sorry." Emily replied, smirking.

"But thanks though. You, Roxas, Sora--- I don't know what it is--- but there's something. You all make me feel, well not _feel_, but if I _could_ feel---" he trailed off. After a minute he threw away the rest of his food, turned to Emily and said, "I'm going to bed. Don't expect tomorrow to be like this. Xemnas'll have you out and about some where…"

Axel gave her a wave good night, and Emily laid down on the couch, not bothering to take off her cloak, however she did remove her boots and gloves. She had a peaceful dreamless sleep. It was the first time since she had come to The Castle That Never Was.

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**A/N- i'm outlining the ending to this, it's ganna be cute. there might even be a sequal if i can get the plot developed. :D**

**okay. Please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer- nope. wish i did though...**

**A/N- chapter 12! yay! a kind of bitter sweet chapter. **

**well , any way, ta da! Capitilo doce!****

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Chapter 12

Her peaceful sleep was soon interrupted however.

"Wake up! You've gatta go now! There's no time for breakfast!"

Emily yawned and blinked her eyes.

"Axel?" she asked, her eyes coming into focus. Axel grabbed her arm and pulled her up to her feet. Emily just stood there, shocked at all the rush.

"Come on. Don't just stand there. Ah jeez." Axel said, grabbing Emily boots and gloves and shoving them in her hands. Emily put them on and asked, "What's going on?"

"Xemnas has been calling for you all morning, and you wouldn't wake up. Now hurry! He's in an impatient mood." Axel said, pacing. Emily finished tying her shoes just as Axel summoned a portal.

"What ever he wants, it must be important." Axel commented as they hurried through the realm. Emily nodded her head, mentally getting herself ready for whatever the day held. When they finally came to their exit, Axel pushed Emily through, without saying goodbye.

"It's about time." Xemnas said, in a surprisingly calm voice. The calm was a scary calm. It was like the eye of a hurricane. The scariest part of the storm. You knew what was coming after it, and Emily didn't want to be there to find out. Emily looked around. Demyx was there. _Again? _She asked herself.

"It's Sora. Demyx. Your time to prove yourself has come." Xemnas said, staring out his window.

"Yes." Demyx said in a confident voice. His face showed fear and nervousness though. _What's he talking about? _Emily wondered.

"Demyx, Xensen is not allowed any where near where the encounter will take place. She must be out of sight. Up on the ledge, perhaps?" Xemnas said, making it out to be a command, rather than a suggestion.

"Yes, Superior." Demyx nodded.

"Now go." Xemnas ordered.

With a final nod, Demyx summoned a portal, and motioned for Emily to follow. Once the portal had closed, Emily asked what had been on her mind.

"What's happening? Where are we going? I want some answers this time."

Demyx sighed as he said, "We're going to Hollow Bastion. I have to prove myself to Xemnas here. If I had a heart, it would probably be beating so fast, I'd have a heart attack."

"Hollow Bastion?" Emily asked. Demyx responded with a nod. He then went on to continue. "Sora's there. I've--- I've got to try and stop him." Demyx's face went white. Emily didn't want to make him think about it anymore, so she kept her wondering mind to herself.

"Before I go in there, I've gatta drop you off. There's a ledge you can stand on. You should be safe there." Demyx added. _I_ should _be safe_. Emily thought.

Their exit was much closer than Emily had thought it would be. But then she figured that the exits appeared randomly. It all depended on where the realm was and the location of where they were going to. She didn't think to heavy on the thought though, it was too confusing.

They exited on a high ledge of gray stone. Below the ledge, there was a lot of rubble. There was a staircase, and a nice mural on the ground. As Emily looked at it, she turned to Demyx to ask him what sort of building had stood there before it was destroyed. Demyx's face had gone very pale again, and he said, "Whatever happens--- I--- just--- never mind. See you around kid. If I--- if I don't come back--- well--- goodbye." Emily wanted to ask him what the heck he was talking about, but he disappeared in another portal.

"Bye." She said softly. She felt sad. She knew that Demyx wasn't the best person for this fighting sort of thing. She didn't want to think about losing Demyx, so she sat down, and peered over the edge of the rock to watch what was happening. She heard fast footsteps coming from the area of the stairs. It was Sora. He stopped running as a dark portal formed in front of him. _Demyx! _Thought Emily.

As Demyx's body emerged, he let out a gasp, as if he had not expected to see Sora so early. He quickly recovered and said confidently, "Hey, you guys are looking lively."

"Scram!" the duck shouted.

"Didn't we catch you roaming around in the Underworld? With--- with Emily?" Sora asked. Emily gasped. He remembered her! Many mixed emotions welled up inside her, and came out as tears.

Tears of sadness for Demyx, tears of joy for Sora. She didn't know what to think.

"Emily--- you mean, Xensen?" Demyx asked. Sora gave him a weird look

"How'd a wimp like you get into Organization XII? And why's Emily hanging around with you guys?" Sora continued. Demyx stumbled back, and chose to ignore Sora's comment. Sora looked at him, and crossed his arms.

"I bet you can't even fight." he said.

"Yea, but we can!" the duck chimed in. _No! Don't fight him!_ _Just give him a chance, Sora! _Emily thought. _I don't want him--- to go._ A wave of confidence seemed to overflow Demyx. He straightened up, and said, in an unshaken voice, "You shouldn't judge anyone by appearance." He pointed his finger to add effect. Sora and his crew summoned their weapons.

Demyx's new air of confidence diminished quickly. He stumbled backwards. _Come on! _Emily thought. Not sure whether she was cheering Demyx or Sora on. Demyx turned around. Emily heard him say to himself, "Oh. I told them they were sending the wrong guy."

"Who is this kook?" Sora asked, perhaps a little too loudly. The large dog then went on to explain that the Organization was made up of Nobodies.

"Right--- no hearts!" Sora replied.

Emily whispered to herself more than anyone else, "Just because they don't have hearts doesn't mean--- doesn't mean they don't know what it's like to feel…" Upon hearing Sora's remark, Demyx turned around and said, "We do to have hearts! Don't be mad…"

_What are you saying!? _Emily yelled inside her head. _Do you honestly think that's going to stop him!?_

"You can't trick us!" the duck said, or at least that's what it sounded like he said. Demyx turned away from them once more, before turning back and using a tone Emily had never heard from him before as he said, "Silence, traitor." He pointed at Sora, who looked just as confused as ever.

Water droplets soon began making their way towards Demyx's hand, slowly escalating into larger and larger amounts of water. The water formed into a large ball just above Demyx's left hand. There was a flash, and the ball began transforming into Demyx's sitar. If it wasn't for the fact that Demyx and Sora were going to be fighting to the death, Emily would have found it amazing. Instead she was scared stiff. She didn't want either of them to lose.

Demyx used his sitar to form water clones, which Sora easily fought through. Demyx had many other tricks up his sleeves. Sora struggled at first, but soon got the rhythm of Demyx's fighting techniques. Emily knew which one of them would win. Tears slid down her face, but she knew that Demyx's demise would mean all the more closer she'd be reunited with Sora.

Emily closed her eyes, no longer wishing to watch this fight. Her eyes remained closed until she heard the final swing of Sora's key blade. He had won. Demyx staggered, hunched over. He fell to the ground, his sitar dissipating into tiny water droplets. Demyx then stood up, clutched his head and yelled for the last time, "No way!" He let out a sickening screech and began dissolving. First just small amounts of him, but eventually the rest of his body. It was as if his body was ashes that were floating up in the wind. Then, he was gone.

"Demyx!" Emily said softly. She began to cry. She sat on the stone, and hugged her knees. She heard Sora yell out, "Anyone from the Organization who'd like to be next?"

"Don't antagonize them Sora." the duck replied.

"Yea," the dog added. "We gatta go help our friends first."

"Oh, sorry." Sora said.

_Could he mean--- could he mean Kairi_? _And Riku? _Emily wondered, still crying.

Then another thought hit her. How was she supposed to get back to the castle? She couldn't summon portals.

"Let's go!" the duck cried. Then Emily heard a voice she hadn't heard before. It sounded like a man's voice, but very high. As if he had sucked helium out of a balloon.

"Aha!" the voice said. "There you are!"

Emily let go of her knees and peered over the edge of the ledge. _A mouse? In an organization cloak? _She asked herself. Sure enough, there was a little mouse standing near the stair case. The mouse walked over to the trio and crossed his arms as if he were angry at them. Just as Emily thought he was about to tell them off, he surprised her by saying, "You sure have lots of friends to help." _What's he talking about? _Emily wondered.

"So," the mouse continued. "I guess we'd better all pull together and finish this battle for good!" Then the most surprising thing of all happened.

"Yes your majesty!" the trio said in unison. _What!? That little mouse is--- is a king!? _Emily thought, wide-eyed. As the king moved towards the group, something caught Emily's eyes. A heartless. It was a flying one, and it was buzzing around a large boulder. It shot some sort of laser at it, and the rock flew into the air.

"No!" Emily yelled softly. The rock was flying straight towards the mouse's head. Emily reached out to him, as if she were trying to save him.

"Look out!" the dog cried. He shoved the mouse out of the way, but only getting himself hit in the head. He was instantly knocked out. Emily sat there in shock.

"Goofy!" Sora cried, he and the others running towards the large dog. _Goofy--- _Emily thought. _So that's his name. It fits him perfectly._

"No!" the mouse cried. The duck ran towards Goofy and seemed to mutter something to him (Emily had a hard time deciphering what it was).

"Come on! Wake up!" Sora shouted, shaking him.

"I'm sorry about the ice cream!" the duck apologized. _What? _Emily thought.

"Goofy?" the mouse asked. The duck began to cry, and he laid his head on Goofy's chest.

"This is not happening!" Sora cried.

"They'll pay for this…" the mouse grunted.

The mouse threw off his black cloak, revealing a red outfit with many zippers on it. The mouse then summoned a key blade. Emily couldn't believe it. _Jeez, _she thought. _How many key blades are there?_ The duck suddenly got up, running after the king, having some sort of fit. Sora looked up, and reached out after him. He stood up, looked at Goofy, then ran after the others.

After making sure they weren't coming back, Emily slowly tried to climb down from the ledge, proving to be difficult. The rubble helped a lot though. She knelt down next to Goofy.

"Aw. I don't know if I can do anything, but I'll stay here with you. I've got no where to go until someone comes after me." Emily said to Goofy, sure that he couldn't hear her. She sat down next to him, and straightened him up a bit. He looked uncomfortable.

She began rambling things to him. She talked about who she was, how she knew Sora, how the organization had taken her. Goofy let out a soft groan. Emily looked at him. The dog slowly opened his eyes, then blinked them several times.

"Who--- who'r you?" he asked quietly. Emily blinked at him. She didn't expect him to recover this fast.

"I--- I'm Emily." she replied, in a bit of shock.

"I've heard your name before…" Goofy said.

"You have?" she asked.

"Mm hmm. Sora's mentioned you a few times. You're his little sister. Right?" he asked, regaining enough strength to sit up. Emily nodded, trying to help.

"Where'd everybody go?" Goofy asked, realizing Emily was the only one around. Emily pointed in the direction they had ran off to.

"They went that way. Are you all right? Are you sure you can stand up?" Emily asked.

"Well sure I'm sure." Goofy said, getting up with a surprising amount of ease.

"I get hit in the head all the time." Goofy said, walking away. When he realized Emily hadn't moved, he turned around and asked, "Well aren't you comin'?" Emily shook her head no.

"Well, all right then. Sora'll be awfully upset when he hears you didn't want to come." he continued.

Emily thought for a moment before saying, "It's not that I don't want to. It's that I can't. I would love to go. It's--- it's not time yet. But--- but could you tell him--- tell him I say 'Hi'?" she asked, looking at the ground, drawing a circle with her finger.

"Sure. Um… well I guess this is g'bye. Uh--- g'bye!" Goofy said with a wave, running towards the direction the others had gone. Emily smiled to herself, waving back.

Once Goofy was out of sight, Emily began thinking of a way to get back to the castle. She started pacing. _How to get out of here._ Emily thought._ Can I---_ She concentrated and tried to summon a portal. Nothing. _Never mind… _She continued.

"There you are." A voice said from behind her. She gasped and turned around. Xemnas stood there, his long white hair moving in the breeze. He looked down at her.

"Xem--- Superior! I---" she stuttered. Xemnas laughed at her and said, "I knew Demyx would fail again. A horrible loss to the Organization. Now. Come with me Xensen. I want you to be with me in the next part of my--- _adventure._" he said, sneering with the last word. He didn't give Emily a choice. He grabbed her shoulder and pushed her into a portal.

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**A/N- well, hope you liked it. please review! **

**i would like to take this as an oppurtunity to thank my reviewers:**

Enviouse-Of-You-Kid

kingdomheartsgurl369

Nobody'snobody

IwantMORE

Jalyn

Twilight Angel013

Shire Folk

**Thanks everybody! i would say i love you, but that might come across as a little strong and or strange. so, thank you soooo much!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer- i own nothing. but you already knew that.**

**A/N- dude! i just found out that this story's gotten over 1,000 hits! thats amazing! well, anyway, here's chapter 13. alot happens in this chapter...****

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Chapter 13

When she and Xemnas exited the portal, Emily found herself standing in front of a large, very strange looking castle. Xemnas said nothing, but stared at the castle. Emily wondered what the castle's purpose was. She heard approaching footsteps. Before she could turn around, she heard the duck's familiar voice cry, "Your majesty!" When Emily tried to turn, Xemnas took her shoulder and prevented her from turning around. He quickly put up her hood.

"Xehanort!" the voice of the king cried. _Xehanort… _Emily thought. _Where have I--- oh yea! Axel mentioned something about it! Xemnas's other half…_

Xemnas stood there for a second before replying, "How long has it been since I abandoned that name?"

"Out with it Nobody!" Emily heard Sora shout. She wished she could turn around, but Xemnas's strong grip prevented it.

"Where's Kairi and Riku!? And what have you done to Emily!?" Sora continued. _I'm right here! _Emily wanted to shout, but it was as if dark magic was preventing the words from escaping her mouth.

"I know nothing of any Kairi." Xemnas said in his frightening calm voice. _That's not true! _Emily thought. _You're the one who wanted Axel to get her! _"As for Riku…" he paused, then turned around, forcing Emily to turn with him. "Perhaps you should ask your king. Sora looked at Xemnas, his eyes seemed to linger on Emily, before he finally looked towards the king. Before he could say anything, the mouse shouted, "Stop!"

The mouse began charging for Xemnas, who pushed Emily out of the way. She fell to the ground, not expecting him to push her so hard. The force of the fall caused her hood to fall off. Xemnas called a dark portal, but wasn't fast enough in closing it. The mouse jumped into it at the last moment. Sora ran to the spot where the portal had been and said quietly, "He's gone…" He then slumped down and began punching the ground.

Goofy walked up to Sora and put his hand on his shoulder sympathetically.

"Sora, Goofy." the duck said. Goofy looked up, and as if just now noticing that Emily was sitting on the ground a few feet away, said, "Oh! I forgot!" He then turned to Sora. "Your sister, uh... Emily, told me to tell you 'Hi'."

"Wha---" Sora said, looking up at Goofy, who offered a hand to help him stand up.

"Hey!" the duck cried, pointing towards Emily. "It's another nobody! Let's get her before she gets away!" he pulled out a staff.

"No, Donald!" Goofy said, blocking the duck with a shield. "That's Emily. Sora told us about her. Remember?" _So that's his name… _Emily thought. Donald nodded. She tried to say something, but she wasn't sure what she should say.

Sora was just standing there staring at her. For a while there was silence in the group.

"Uh…" Emily mumbled. It was all she could get out. Sora then smiled, and walked over to her. He offered his hand to help her stand up. Emily stared at it before making up her mind to grab it. Emily stared at Sora for a few minutes before she looked down to towards the ground as she said quietly, "Sora I--- I'm sorry. I---" She stopped talking. Sora had drawn her into an unsuspected hug.

"It's--- it's really you! You're okay!" Sora said.

Emily stood there, not believing that she was finally reunited with her brother. She slowly put her arms around him. She started crying.

"I'm sorry! I thought--- I thought what I was doing was the right thing! But---" she had to stop. It was too hard to explain while tears were falling down her face, and sobs were taking over her lungs.

"Hey. It's okay. You're here with me now. We--- we can fight together." Sora told her.

After a few minutes, Emily finally calmed down enough to explain the basics of what she had been through.

"Wha!" Donald cried, interrupting the family reunion. Sora and Emily looked in the direction Donald was staring. He was looking at the castle.

"What's goin' on?" Goofy asked.

Suddenly a familiar voice from behind said, "Way to fall right into their trap." They all turned around.

"Axel!" Emily shouted, running to him. He was leaning against a rock wall in the shadows.

"You know that Organization freak?" Sora asked, summoning his key blade, Donald and Goofy following suit.

"Hey, kid." Axel said to Emily. He then turned his attention towards Sora. "Come on." he said. "It's a set up by Organization XIII." Axel began walking towards the others. "Xemnas is using you to destroy the heartless--- that's his big master plan." Emily nodded in agreement.

"Xemnas?" Donald asked suspiciously.

"The guy you just saw." Axel said, pointing in the direction where Xemnas had been standing.

"He's their leader. Got it memorized? X- E- M- N- A- S." he spelled it out. Sora's expression softened, and Goofy put down his shield and asked, "Organization XIII wants to get rid of the heartless?"

Emily nodded and Axel joked, "Man you're slow." Axel then pointed to the Sora's key blade and explained, "Every heartless slain with that key blade releases a captive heart. That is what the Organization is after."

"He's telling the truth." Emily said.

"So what are those guys gonna do with the hearts?" Donald asked.

"I'm not telling!" Axel said. He turned towards Emily and ordered, "And neither are you." Emily gave him a confused look.

"Hey!" Sora shouted. "Leave her alone!"

"Tell us!" Donald demanded.

"You!" Sora said accusingly. "You're the one who kidnapped Kairi! And you took Emily too, didn't you!?"

"Bingo." Axel said. "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

"Where is Kairi?" Sora asked.

"Sora! She's---" Emily was cut off by Axel's hand. He shook his finger at her. _What's going on!_ Emily thought. She thought Axel was on the good side now. She didn't understand why he was acting this way.

"Please!" Sora said. "Just tell me!" His eyes held a look of hurt Emily hadn't seen in a long time. It was _real _hurt. Not the pretending stuff the Organization did.

"Look," Axel started. "About Kairi---" _Yes! _Emily thought. _I knew he was on the right side!_

"I'm sorry." Axel said. It was not what Emily had expected him to say.

"Axel!" Emily shouted in unison with another man's voice. A dark portal appeared and a man with silverish blue hair stepped out. _Saïx! _Emily thought.

"Uh oh!" Axel cried. He grabbed Emily's arm and yanked her into a portal.

"No! Sora!" Emily cried, trying to free herself. She saw Sora try to run into the portal, but Saïx blocked him. "Em---" was the only thing she heard Sora shout.

"No! No, no, no, no, no…" Emily said, slumping to the ground. Hot streams of tears poured down her face. She looked up at Axel who was staring at her.

"I--- I was finally with him! Why!?" she asked angrily. "Why'd you have to take me from him!?"

"I--- I'm sorry. I'm already in enough trouble as is. If I didn't bring you back, Xemnas would be after you in--- in a heart beat." Axel tried to explain.

Emily didn't care. She summoned her key blade and began beating the floor with it. She didn't stop until her arms were to exhausted to move any longer. The key blade disappeared in a flash of light.

"Come on." Axel said, lifting Emily to her feet. Emily followed reluctantly. Too angry, sad, and tired to object. She remained silent the whole trip to the exit portal.

Once in Axel's room, Emily threw off her gloves, boots, and cloak.

"Look," Axel started, but Emily didn't give him a chance. She turned on him heatedly and said, "What was wrong with you back there!? You said yourself that you were turning on the Organization, but it sure didn't seem that way! Why wouldn't you let me tell Sora where Kairi is!? Why didn't you tell him about kingdom hearts?" Emily sat down on the couch. Axel sighed and sat down in a kitchen chair before saying anything.

"Look. It's the darkness in me. I've told you about it before. It can't be helped sometimes. I--- I'm sorry." He looked at Emily and upon seeing the look on her face he added, "Don't worry. He'll find her! And he'll be back for you. Hey. Listen. You might be by yourself for a while, I'm in for a lot. I'm probably in for maximum punishment. If so, I'm gonna tell you how to get to Xemnas's office from here.

"Once you leave my room, go left and keep going straight until you get to the dead end. There's a door leading to a hidden stair case. Take those stairs, and exit the door at the bottom. Go into the hall and go right until you see the door with the giant brass roman numeral one. Got it memorized?"

Emily sat and mentally went through the directions a few times before nodding. She was still angry, and didn't feel like talking much.

"I'm going to take a bath." she said heatedly. Axel showed no sign he had heard her, but she knew he had. She went into the bathroom and started the faucet, letting the water run a bit so it would heat up. When it was hot enough for her she plugged up the tub and waited for the tub to fill as much as it could with out spilling over once she was in it.

She stepped in the tub and let the heat of the water calm her. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the edge of the tub. She couldn't help but let her mind go over that days events. Sora. She had gotten to see him up close. She had gotten a chance to speak with him. She had forgotten how blue his eyes really were. She had not realized how tall he had gotten. He seemed to be a full twelve inches taller than her. When he was younger and still on the islands, he had been the thinner boy of the bunch. He was still thin now, but he had the beginnings of muscle build up. He was the same for the most part though.

She couldn't believe it. Like Tidus, Sora's voice had gotten deeper._ Oh my gosh! Tidus! _Emily thought. She couldn't believe that she had forgotten him! She felt like such an idiot_. I wonder what's been going on back at the islands? _Emily thought.

_**8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8**_

Meanwhile, back at the Destiny Islands…

Two boys and a girl sat on the dock at the island that they had been going to for most of their lives. The girl and the older looking boy were holding hands sitting at the edge of the dock; their feet just touching the water. The younger boy was standing near the side of the dock, throwing stones that he was holding in his left hand.

When he threw his last rock, he turned and stood behind the other two.

"Why!?" he shouted angrily at no one in particular. The girl and the other boy turned to look at him.

"I don't know, Tidus." the girl said. Tidus looked at her.

"First Riku and Sora leave and never come back. Then we all forget about Sora. Then, Kairi and Emily suddenly start remembering him before the rest of us, then they go off and disappear too! Then we all remember Sora, and I can't even apologize to Emily for thinking that Sora was another boy! Are we just going to forget about everyone!?

"I feel bad because at the time Emily showed me that picture, I thought that the other boy in the photo with her was just that; another boy. I didn't know that he was Sora. Now I can't even apologize, because Emily isn't even here!" he shouted.

"I'm sorry Tidus." the girl said.

"Yea, man." the other boy added. Tidus looked at his friends and sat down.

"It's okay. It's not your guys' fault. Do you think--- do ya think they'll ever come back?"

"Well, before Kairi left, she told me that she was sure we'd see Riku again. I would love to be just as confident as her, but I can't. It would mean the world to me if I knew that Kairi, Emily, and everybody else was coming back. But I--- I just don't know. I'm so sorry Tidus." the girl said. Tidus looked off into the horizon.

"It's okay Selphie." Tidus finally said.

"How long have they been gone now. Two weeks?" the other boy asked.

"Yea, but it feels like a life time." Tidus answered.

Suddenly a question crossed his mind. "Hey Wakka," he asked the boy. "How are their parents? Sora and Emily's. Are they doing better now?"

"Well," Wakka said slowly. "They're holding up better than they were last week. I don't think it's fully sunk in yet. Mark and Shelby are having less difficulty than their parents, but--- they're off pretty bad too."

Tidus stood up and walked off the dock. He didn't bother saying where he was going, he didn't want Selphie and Wakka to know what he was doing. He made his way to the secret cave by the large tree. He sighed as he looked at the pictures drawn on the cave walls. He spotted a blank spot on the wall and searched for a rock before kneeling down. He took the rock and began drawing. It started off as a line, but slowly developed into a heart. On the inside he wrote his name and Emily's with a plus sign in-between.

When he was fully satisfied, he added one more thing. The ceremonious paopu fruit. He added an arrow from his name, to the fruit, and to Emily's name. When he was finished, he looked at his work, then placed his hand on Emily's name. He hesitated before saying quietly, "I--- I think I love you."

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Emily sat in the tub, tears rolling down her face. She felt awful for forgetting her friends. She had just been so caught up with--- Emily suddenly gasped. She wasn't sure what had happened, but it was as if she heard a voice in her head tell her that it thought it loved her.

"T--- Tidus…?" she said out loud. The tears flowed down her face harder, but they were happy tears.

"I--- I think I love you too." she said, looking at the bubbles in the tub.

And some where, a boy in a cave on a small island, stood up, and smiled as he headed out to the dock, to sit with his friends.

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**A/N- what did u think? put your thoughts in a review. :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: nope. you guessed it! i don't own kingdom hearts.**

**A/N- yay! i got a snow day today:D hooray for snowdays! It's the land of dragons time! Please sit back, and enjoy capitilo catorce! (espanol for chapter fourteen.) ;)****

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Chapter 14

Emily woke the next morning with a slow start. She wondered why Axel had not waken her up, then realized that he wasn't up yet either. She sat up, stretched, and walked over to the kitchen. After she had retrieved an orange from the fridge, she noticed a note on the counter.

"What's this?" she asked no one in particular. She picked up the note and read through the scratchy hand writing. It read;

_Xensen,_

_I'm receiving punishment early in the morning. By the _

_time you read this I'll be--- well who knows. Any way, __just remember _

_the directions I told you last night and you'll be fine. Xemnas could call _

_you at any time, so be ready. _

_Axel_

_p.s. there's an orange in the fridge _

"Okay…" Emily said, setting the note back down. After eating her orange in silence, she put on her organization clothes.

"I guess I should just sit and wait." Emily said aloud. She sat in her thoughts, and then it hit her._ Demyx! _She thought. _Demyx… he's--- he's really gone! _A tear or two ran down her face.

_"Xensen! To my office at once!" _Xemnas's voice echoed. It shook Emily out of her trance.

"Uh… what… oh! Y-yes Superior!" She shouted, wondering if he could hear her. She dried her eyes with her sleeve and exited Axel's room. Because of the use of the dark portals, Emily hadn't really seen much of the castle at all. Every thing seemed to be white for such a dark and evil place. When she turned to close Axel's door, she noticed a large brass VIII on the door.

_I hope he's okay… _She thought.

"Let's see…" Emily said. "I'm supposed to turn…left first? Then I keep going 'till I find the dead end. Okay. Here I go." She made a left turn and headed passed several doors, all of them unmarked, except for one. There was a large roman numeral nine on the closed door. This whole time she had been in walking distance of Demyx's room, and she had never visited. She shook her head, trying to keep the tears from spilling.

After a minute or so of walking, she found herself at a dead end. There was a large window. Emily went to it and looked out. Before her lay a dark, stormy looking city. She looked towards the sky and saw the giant heart shaped moon known to be 'Kingdom Hearts'. It made her think of Sora. "Don't worry." She whispered to him. "You'll beat these guys, I know it."

She turned away from the window and thought aloud, "Now where is this so called, hidden stair case? A ha!" she said, seeing a hidden door. The door blended in so well with its surroundings, that Emily probably wouldn't have noticed it if she hadn't known what she was looking for. She pushed open the door to be met with a dark stair case; no lights at all. _Great. _She thought.

She slowly and timidly made her way down the stairs, clinging to the railing. At one point, she almost fell, but quickly caught herself.

"Sheesh! Is this stair case ever going to end--- oof!" she said, running into a solid surface she figured to be the exit. She rubbed her forehead and opened it only to be blinded by the amount of white.

After her eyes adjusted she remembered she had to turn right. This hallway seemed to never end. She passed several doors on the way. Three of them belonged to Organization members, 4, 5, and 7. I wonder who they are. Emily thought. She tried to remember what Axel had told her about the organization when it hit her. _Vexen, Lexaeus, and Saïx_. She thought.

There weren't any more doors with brass numerals on them, but there were plenty of interesting things to look at. On this lower level of the castle, there were many dusks roaming around. They were doing odd jobs such as cleaning, moping, polishing. Emily was fascinated by these creatures for whatever reason. They made her feel powerful; like she was above something, and not under everything.

After much walking and much observing, Emily saw that the end of this infinite hallway was nearing.

"Finally!" she cried, then quickly put her hand to her mouth and looked around to see if any one was watching her. Luckily, no one was. She approached a large white door with a large brass number one.

"Xemnas." She took in a deep breath and entered the room, fearing that she might be in trouble for being so late.

The room looked just like it always did. Xemnas wasn't looking at his kingdom hearts however. He was sitting in his chair. He looked up at Emily and said with an air of annoyance, "It's about time you got here. I must remember that you do not hold the power to open portals, so I will be forgiving. I am sorry that I left you in that God forsaken Hollow Bastion."_ No you're not. _Emily thought.

Xemnas continued. "You have finally met with your brother, is this correct? I was told by a very reliable source that you were with him. He is stronger than you thought, no?" Emily stared at him, not knowing how to answer his question. She decided to just nod. Xemnas closed his eyes.

"I see." he said. "You do not wish to speak of your encounter. Don't fret child. There will be many more encounters, and you will learn how to deal with them. Remember, there are only two ways to--"

"To save him. Yea I know." Emily said, and wished she hadn't. She could tell Xemnas' temper was growing short.

"I'm sorry." She quickly apologized. "It was a hard day yesterday."

"That is no excuse. However I will give into the fact that you still have a beating heart within you, and therefore you are susceptible to these emotional things. Now. You are going on a special mission today, with Xigbar. You will learn how to turn a dragon into a heartless. It is to be sent to the imperial city." As Xemnas shouted for Xigbar to come to his office, Emily thought, _Well, at least things are finally being explained to me._

A dark portal appeared and a man stepped out. His face was covered by his cloak hood, but he removed it. The man had grayish black hair, and an eye patch over his right eye. The man looked at Emily and said, "I've been waiting to meet you, Xensen. I've heard so much about you already."

Emily didn't like his tone, but nodded towards him. Xigbar opened a portal and Emily joined him. When the portal closed, Xigbar asked, "Did Xemnas tell you the mission?"

"Parts of it." Emily answered. "I know we're gonna make a dragon into a heartless, or something like that."

"Do you really wield a key blade?" Xigbar asked out of the blue.

"Y-yes." Emily answered, wondering why he wanted to know.

"Can you show me? It'll remind me of Roxas. You do know who---" Xigbar was interrupted by Emily.

"Yes. I know who Roxas is. And I guess I can show you." Emily tried to make it dramatic. She no longer needed to put her hand on her heart; the key blade would just appear when Emily felt like holding it. She put her hand to her heart, and drew it away slowly, feeling the slick, cool metal in her hand. A large flash of light, and there the key blade was.

Xigbar seemed to be staring at it in awe, but Emily knew better. He was a faker, just like the rest of them.

"I like it. It looks very--- dark and mysterious." Xigbar said, touching the purple rose tip. Emily didn't want him to get any ideas, so she called off the blade, which disappeared in another flash of light.

"Now why'd you go and do that?" Xigbar said, not angry, but not pleased at the same time. Emily quickly made up the excuse that she hadn't totally mastered it yet, and Xigbar seemed to buy it.

"Well, here's our exit." Xigbar said, stopping in front of the large exit portal. Xigbar put up his hood and Emily followed suit. They stepped out onto a large mountain that had large patches of bright green grass, and large patches of melting snow. It was very cold here. Emily shivered. She wasn't used to this kind of weather back on the islands. This was the first time she had seen snow. She bent down to touch it. It was like icy water. Emily was fascinated by it.

"What are you doing?" Xigbar asked, a curious look on his face. Emily blushed and said, "Nothing. I've just always wanted to feel snow." Xigbar gave her a look, or at least Emily thought he did (she couldn't see very well through his hood).

Emily looked out and saw to her amazement, three large lizard-like creatures. _Dragons! _She thought excitedly. And as if Xigbar had read her mind, he said, "Yep. Those are dragons. In this world, they're far from being mythical creatures. They're very real. They're symbols to the Chinese people, or something." Emily continued to stare in awe. There was a fairly large blue dragon, next to a smaller, but still quite big, red dragon. In between them was a very small purple dragon.

_He must be their baby_. Emily thought. As Xigbar approached the dragons, the large blue one let out a snort of smoke. _That must be the male. _Emily thought.

"Hey now. Come here--- uh--- big dragon. I'm not gonna hurt ya. That's it, come here." Xigbar coaxed the large dragon over to him. The dragon seemed to trust him. Emily felt sad for the dragon, because it obviously didn't mean any harm. Emily watched in horror as Xigbar thrust his weapon through the dragon's chest. The red dragon let out a type of shriek, and grabbed its baby with its hind claws.

As they flew off Emily felt angered that this poor, unsuspecting family was just broken. They would probably never trust humans again.

"See! Now that's how you turn a beast into a heartless!" Xigbar shouted to Emily. Emily turned towards him to see the large dragon. It was still blue, but it bared the same markings as other heartless. Emily chose not to say anything to Xigbar about it. It didn't bother him though. He told the dragon to fly to the imperial city and attack. He snapped his fingers, and it sent the dragon soaring high, and fast.

Xigbar walked over to Emily and opened another portal.

"Come on. We've gatta get to the palace and figure out a way in." He grabbed Emily's shoulder and led her into the portal. Xigbar was rambling some sort of story to Emily, but she didn't care to hear it. She could only think of the poor innocent dragon, who had done nothing wrong. Emily's only response to Xigbar's story was an appropriate nod here and there.

When they reached their exit portal and exited again, Emily found herself in front of a large red door. Xigbar began examining it, trying to find a way inside. From behind her, Emily heard a girl's voice cry out, "Wait!" Xigbar jumped in surprise and turned. Before Emily did so, she thought, _Great. It'll be just my luck if Sora's here too. What am I supposed to do? _She wondered frantically.

Her guess was right. Sora and the others were all there, along with an oriental woman. Sora put down his key blade and walked slowly towards Emily and Xigbar.

"Riku?" he asked. _Riku!? _Emily thought. _I haven't seen him once since I came here. I hope he's okay…_ Donald and Goofy exchanged confused glances. Xigbar put down his hood and said, "Nope. Never heard of him." Sora jumped back. He looked at Emily, who let her hood down too. She had a plan, and she hoped it would work. Just as Sora looked like he was about to shout her name, she waved her hand and stopped time. Something she hadn't done in a long time. It felt good to let some magic flow through her body. It felt like along with the magic, some of her stress was being released too.

"Okay." Emily said out loud. "I've only got one shot at this." She ran towards Sora, and in less than a second, she grabbed his arm, started time back up, and then stopped it again.

"Wha---? What's going on?" Sora asked. Looking around. Emily sighed and explained, "I've stopped time." Sora looked at her with a blank stare.

"Huh? Stopped… time…?" He walked towards Goofy and poked him. Goofy didn't change. Sora jumped back in surprise.

"He feels--- like a statue!" Sora exclaimed.

"Yea. I know. Now listen." she said, not wanting to beat around the bush. "You can't let Xigbar know that you know that I'm with the organization! Okay!? I'll--- bad things will happen to me if--- if Xemnas finds out. Just promise okay? I'll be with you again. Another time. Just don't let on to any of the organization that you know! Especially that you know I'm on the good side." When Emily finished explaining, Sora looked at her. He nodded.

"Okay. I promise. I don't like it, but I promise." He put his hand to his heart.

"Okay. I'm going to start time again, so, be ready. Get into the position you were before, or as close as possible. If any one asks why you moved or whatever, tell them that they're imagining it." Emily said, moving back towards her original position. When Sora was ready, he nodded at her. She took one last look before nodding herself. She waved her hand and everybody came back to life. Xigbar looked at Emily, then back where he had seen her appear next to Sora.

"How--- you--- I--- were you…?" he tried to search for the words, but couldn't find them. Instead he pointed at where Emily was standing now, and back to where she appeared in a flash.

Emily gave him a weird look and said, "What're you talking about? C'mon! Let's get this over with." she said. Xigbar shook his head before dropping the subject.

"Whatever." he said, and snapped his fingers. Four large nobodies appeared around Sora, and Xigbar quickly grabbed Emily's shoulder and signaled her to run. While Sora and his group looked at the nobodies, Xigbar and Emily made their escape.

Xigbar led Emily outside the palace. It was a very vast place. Xigbar whistled, and the heartless dragon appeared.

"C'mon! Let's go." Xigbar said, opening a portal and motioning for Emily to come faster. She took one last look at the dragon before following Xigbar into the portal.

"Sora'll probably defeat that dragon, you know." Emily said, once the portal had fully gone away.

"That's the whole point. That dragon's got a very large heart. When Sora releases it, it'll go straight to Kingdom Hearts. Xemnas should be a happy dude." Xigbar explained. Then he added quietly. "Oh. And if you put in a good word for me, I won't tell Xemnas about your little--- _time incident_."

Emily froze in her tracks.

"Ha. Yea. It's a funny thing. I was told all about your little '_power_'." he air quoted. "Tell Xemnas how I made sure that Kingdom hearts will receive a large heart, and I'll _forget _how you--- did whatever you did with Sora." Xigbar continued. Emily said nervously, "How--- how did you---" Xigbar laughed and said, "I'm not stupid. I know that a person can't appear in two spots at once. Plus not to mention the fact that you started out on my right side, and ended up on my left."

Emily mentally slapped herself in the face. _How could I have done something so stupid! _She thought.

"I--- I will. As long as you promise you won't tell." Emily said, trying to sound confident.

"Hey. I'm a nobody of my word. I won't sell you out as long as you don't sell me out." Xigbar said. Emily wasn't sure whether to trust him or not.

"Okay." she finally said. It was better to at least pretend to believe him, then to not believe him at all and get--- well…

As they made they're way to the exit portal, Emily wondered how she was going to tell Xemnas without making it seem too rehearsed. She didn't have much time to think though, because the exit was fairly close to their entry portal.

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**A/N- i believe that the next chapter, Emily will be going back to Beast's castle. :) so, just thought i'd say where she's off to next!**

**Please leave a review! it's my birthday! i'm atucally just kidding. but let's all _pretend_ it's my birthday, and leave me a wonderful present in the form of a reveiw:) that would just be loverly!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: _sniffs._ I can only wish i owned it! _tear rolls down cheek_.**

**A/N- here is chpater 15! today's chapter is brought to you by another snowday, and reviewers like you!****

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Chapter 15

Xigbar pushed Emily through, and she found herself once again in Xemnas's office. He was in his regular window spot, gazing out. It was almost as if he was in love with his kingdom hearts, except for the love part, because nobodies couldn't love. This thought made it hard for Emily to keep a straight face.

"Hey, Superior. Mission successful. Go 'head. Tell 'im Xensen." Xigbar nudged Emily in the ribs, rather hard. Xemnas turned to look at Emily. She felt like his gaze could see through to her soul, and it made her get goose bumps.

"I said, go 'head and tell 'im Xensen." Xigbar said again, nudging Emily harder.

"Yes Superior. The mission went very well. The--- the dragon served as an excellent heartless for Sora to defeat. And…and… your Kingdom Hearts now has a--- fairly large heart on the way--- uh--- Superior." Emily said, trying her best to make it sound convincing. Xemnas gave Emily a cold stare before saying, "Yes, yes. That is good news. Something I haven't gotten in a while." Xemnas moved his way to his chair. _I hope he bought that... _Emily thought.

When Xemnas wasn't looking, Xigbar winked at Emily, and at that moment, she knew she could trust that he wouldn't say anything.

"You are dismissed, number two." Xemnas said. Emily was about to leave also, when Xemnas stopped her. "You aren't done yet today. Because that mission went so well, and quickly, I'm assigning you to another one. It's a mission you've been on before, but this time, there will be no failures. _Xaldin! To my office at once!_" Xemnas called.

"Beast's again?" Emily asked, quickly adding, "Superior?" He merely nodded. A portal appeared, and the familiar figure of Xaldin stepped out. He nodded towards Emily, and said, "You called Superior?"

"Yes. You must go back to Beast's castle. I'm growing impatient, and I want that heartless, and that nobody. Do not fail me again. Now, go." Xemnas ordered. Xaldin nodded and opened a new portal.

"Come, Xensen." he said.

Emily got up and joined him through the portal. She had been looking forward to having the rest of the day off. They walked in silence. When they approached their exit, Xaldin put his hood over his face, and Emily did too. They exited onto a high balcony, in a huge ball-room. Emily stood transfixed on the beautiful ceiling mural. She also couldn't help but notice the humongous chandelier dangling about fifteen feet away from her.

Below she saw the Beast, dressed up this time, instead of his purple cloak she had first seen him wearing. The young girl Emily knew to be Belle, was in a beautiful golden dress. Suddenly, what looked like a candle stick said, "Now then, Monsieur, Mademoiselle, please enjoy the evening." The sound of a door opening made the candle and the other small pieces of furniture jump. Then the candle stick said, "And of course our honored guests are welcome, too."

Suddenly Xaldin said loudly so the others would hear, "A welcome indeed." Not knowing where the voice had emanated from, the Beast grabbed Belle. Then, Sora ran out into the middle of the floor. As he turned, Emily slunk back into the shadows. She didn't want him to see her here too, when they had just had an encounter a little over an hour before. Sora looked up and spotted Xaldin. If he could see her, Emily didn't know.

"The Organization!" he shouted.

"You don't know when to quit." was Xaldin's response. Then Donald shouted angrily, "Oh, yea!? We'll show you!" Donald swung his staff around. The Beast looked up and shouted, "Get out!" Beast shoved Belle out of the way, and he ran to join Sora. Belle then said angrily, "Not tonight!"

Xaldin ignored Beast's order, and he snapped his fingers, which brought several large nobodies to the floor. Beast tried to eliminate them with mighty fist blows, but he couldn't do it alone. Xaldin looked down at the Beast and said in his eerily smooth voice, "I've come to take something you hold very dear." The Beast took in a large breath, and let out a roar that seemed to shake the entire castle. It knocked Emily off balance, but not enough to make her fall down.

"Yes," Xaldin said calmly. "Let your anger grow." He formed a portal, and Emily ran into it. When it had closed, she asked, "The rose? Or Belle?" Xaldin looked at her for a minute before saying, "I was planning on just the rose. But what you said has given me an idea. Perhaps I should make him choose between which one he keeps, and which one I take. Thank you for your input, Xensen." Emily mentally smacked herself in the face. _Nice move, idiot. _She told herself.

When they came to their exit point, they entered a familiar room. Beast's room. There sat the rose, exactly how it was before. Still emitting that pink, magical glow.

"Ah." Xaldin said, examining the rose before he picked it up. He and Emily turned their heads as they heard fast approaching footsteps.

"Come." Xaldin said, opening yet another portal. Just as the portal disappeared, Emily heard the bedroom doors open.

"Come. We must go to the balcony. Beast is sure to come." Xaldin said, walking forward.

"Yea…" Emily said before joining him. They walked for a few minutes before they found their exit. Emily found herself on a ledge just above two giant doors. _They must be the ballroom doors… _Emily thought. They stood there in silence for several minutes, waiting for the Beast to show up. And when he did, Xaldin called out, "So, Beast… you came after all." He held the rose in a position that was saying, 'hey, look at me, I have your rose. What are you gonna do about it?' He continued speaking. "You had me worried. I was afraid you'd given up for good."

_He's just trying to provoke him. _Emily thought to herself. The Beast growled at the last comment.

"What do you guys really want!?" Sora demanded. Emily was trying to hide herself behind Xaldin, and she hoped it was working. _What would he say if he knew I was here too? _Emily wondered. She was afraid he would be disappointed in her. Then another thought crossed her mind. _How does he get to these worlds as fast as we do? He doesn't use dark portals--- that's a power of darkness… _She pondered this while everything was going on, but she still tried to pay attention.

"Kingdom Hearts…" Xaldin answered blankly. Sora just continued to glare. Xaldin chose this opportunity to let down his hood. It was the first time Emily really got the chance to see his features. He had long black hair that was pulled into braid type things. He had strange sideburns, and bushy eyebrows, and very fierce, electric blue eyes. He reminded her of her Uncle Harold for some reason.

Xaldin continued to explain. "When Kingdom Hearts is ours, we can exist fully, and completely. So you see Beast--- that's why we need your heartless _and_ your nobody!" Xaldin snapped his fingers, and nobodies surrounded Sora and everyone else. After easily fighting their way through, Xaldin grabbed Emily's arm, and he floated down to the ground near the entrance doors. _Oh yea! _Emily thought. _He can control wind. So that's how he's did that…_

Before exiting, Xaldin let out a mighty humph. As soon as they were outside, Xaldin created a portal, and motioned for Emily to come quickly. She did as she was told, and entered. After finding their exit, Xaldin said, "We must be silent for this to work." he put his finger to his lips, and Emily did the same to signal that she understood. They exited right behind Belle, who was leaning on what Emily thought was her balcony. Xaldin silently set down the rose, opened a portal, and closed it.

Emily didn't speak. She didn't want anything to happen to Belle, she felt like it was her fault enough as it was. _Why did I have to go and give him the idea to kidnap Belle!? Why!?_ She thought. Instead of walking away to go find an exit portal, Xaldin stayed put, keeping the portal from which they came from open as a small hole. He signaled for Emily to remain silent. She couldn't see, but she knew it was Belle speaking.

"Look! It's the rose!" Belle shouted. Xaldin suddenly reopened the portal, and grabbed Belle's mouth. As Belle struggled, Beast cried out her name.

"Grab my shoulder and hold on tight." Xaldin whispered to Emily, who nodded and grabbed on with all her life. Carrying a large rose, Belle, and Emily, he leaped up off of the balcony's edge, and jumped over a large outer wall. _This reminds me of a super hero from a comic book I read once… _Emily thought. She couldn't think anymore than that because she had to concentrate on not letting go, and not throwing up.

From the other side of the wall, she heard Sora cry, "Hurry!" Sora, Beast, Donald, and Goofy soon entered the bridge area where Emily and Xaldin stood. Emily stood behind Xaldin, while he held Belle tightly with his left arm, and the rose with his other. Beast stopped fifteen feet away and shouted, "You! Get out of my castle! Now!"

Xaldin calmly replied, "With pleasure, but I'd rather travel light. What shall I leave behind? Belle, or the rose?" _That's not a very fair choice… _Emily thought. Beast let out an angry roar before crying, "Belle!" Suddenly, Belle elbowed Xaldin in the ribs (something he was obviously not expecting), and she took the opportunity to grab the rose.

"Yes!" Emily whispered, putting her fist into the air.

As Belle ran, Sora yelled, "Good one, Belle!" Beast then charged towards Xaldin, who used his air element to move out of the way. Emily was lucky that he grabbed her arm, but not so lucky that he used his wind power to blow her up onto a ledge. It made her feel sick to her stomach, not to mention she was going to have a huge bruise in the morning. As soon as he had thrown Emily, Xaldin called up a circle of tornados around himself.

The tornados brimmed with lightning strikes, and eventually formed his weapons, which were six long spear looking objects. He threw them up into the air, caught three of them, and had streams of air control the others. Sora and Beast and the others struggled against Xaldin. Man, did he know how to fight. Several times, Sora had to throw some kind of liquid at Donald and Goofy, which erupted into holographic leaves which danced around their heads.

_Oh, great. _Emily thought. _How am I supposed to get back, if Sora defeats Xaldin? Will Xemnas come after me?_ Unfortunately, Xaldin did get his butt kicked, and hard. When it came to his final breaths, he stumbled back, his weapons disappeared in beams of light, and he disappeared exactly how Demyx had. This loss wasn't very saddening to Emily, like Demyx's death had been. The only thing that worried her was how she was going to return to the castle.

While she was waiting, she decided to watch the scene happening from below. Belle was handing the rose to the Beast. "Here. It's yours again." she said. "Belle…" the Beast said, just loud enough for Emily to make out his words.

"I know." Belle answered. "You want me to leave the castle." She looked down at the ground.

"No…" Emily said softly. Suddenly the Beast stuttered, "What matters is… you weren't hurt by Xaldin, or that other one in black…"

Emily looked down at her hands at his words. He didn't trust her either, although, she couldn't blame him.

"She wouldn't hurt---" Sora started, "Ah--- never mind." He put his hand behind his head. _So he did know I was here_. Emily thought, but she was grateful that he tried to put in a good word for her. The Beast looked at Sora, then continued his speech. "You're safe." He began stuttering some more as he said, "And… I'm very grateful to you… for bringing the rose back to me. Thank you." he finished.

Belle smiled at the Beast, and even seemed to blush before she said, "It's the least I could do. You've been good to me. And you didn't have to be." Emily smiled to herself as she thought about how much these two obviously cared for each other.

"Listen, Belle," the Beast began.

"Yes?" Belle asked. The Beast tried to form words, but all that came out were odd noises.

"Say it!" Sora urged him on, along with Donald, Goofy, and a small array of furniture pieces.

"Belle, I'd like you to stay…" The Beast started. "With me." he finished, then quickly added, "Please?" Belle smiled at him, and took his hand.

"I will." she answered. Music seemed to play from no where, and Belle and Beast began to dance. Before Emily could watch them finish their dance, a portal opened next to her, but no one came forth from it. Instead, a voice echoed out, "Xensen. Into the portal." It was Xemnas.

Emily stood up, and entered the portal, but took one last look at the two lovebirds. She sighed as she thought of the dance she was supposed to be going to with Tidus._ I wonder what's been going on at home? How much time has passed?_ Emily didn't want her mind to wander on the subject for long because it made her sad. Instead she focused on getting back to The Castle that Never Was.

She began looking for an exit portal, but she had no clue as to which way she should go. As if Xemnas had read her mind, he called out, "This way, Xensen." It came from the right. After a few minutes of walking aimlessly, she found her exit portal. She exited into Xemnas's office. He was sitting in his chair again, looking--- well not looking like any emotion at all.

"Xaldin has failed me. My Organization once had thirteen members, and now we're down to five. That Sora must be finished. That is your mission. For you. Not any of the other members." Xemnas said, very seriously.

Emily nodded, but on the inside she was thinking, _Yea, yea. You just want me to do it, because if I die, I'll come back as a heartless and a nobody. If it were you, you'd simply end; be no more. _This thought angered Emily, but she controlled it, and managed to keep a straight face.

"Yes Superior." she said. Xemnas looked at her for a moment before saying, "I expect great things from you. You will be the one, but" he added, coolly, but with an air of darkness, "If you are to fail me, I will be _thoroughly_ disappointed."

Emily swallowed hard, and responded, "I won't, Superior." The lie burned itself in her mind. She felt like even though she was secretly on the right side, she felt as if she was betraying her brother, Kairi, and everyone else that was good.

"You are dismissed. Axel will be joining you tomorrow. He has one more day of maximum punishment." Xemnas said, looking down at some paper work.

Emily nodded, and stood up. When she opened his door, Xemnas said, "Oh, yes. Here. You earned it." With a lazy wave of his hand, he opened a portal. Shocked, Emily said, "Thank you!" Whether the act of kindness was a fake one or not, she still appreciated it. She didn't want to walk all the way back to Axel's room. She was far too exhausted.

After quickly finding her exit, she found herself in Axel's room. She didn't bother with removing her Organization clothes, she grabbed a blanket, and laid down on the couch. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light, falling into a deep and dreamless sleep.

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**A/N- let's see. i think Emily is going to the second visit to port royal. then there will only be a few other chapters. :'( **

**but the good news is that i have my story idea for a sequal, so, keep your eyes peeled! OO**

**please leave me a review! nn**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer- nothing belongs to me, except for the parts that belong to... me. :p**

**A/N- Capitilo Diez y seis! yay:) thanks for the reviews guys!****

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Chapter 16

Emily awoke the next morning to angry shouting. The voice was shouting her name.

"Axel?" she asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"_Xensen! Xensen! Where are you!? Get down my office at once!_" It was Xemnas. Emily jumped up off the couch and cried, "Y---yes! I---" but she was cut off.

"_No excuses, just get down here!"_ Xemnas's voice cried angrily. A portal appeared in the room, and Emily ran into it.

The exit portal was close to the entrance portal, so Emily had no trouble finding it. She ran as fast as she could, and exited into Xemnas's office. He was standing near his window, staring at her. His intense orange eyes were filled with frustration. Emily knew it was the fake version of the emotion, but Xemnas played it well.

"I'm sorry Superior. It--- it won't happen again." she said shakily. Xemnas continued to give Emily the glare before saying, "You're right. It won't." He wasn't giving her a choice.

Emily nodded and looked around the room when she noticed another man standing near the window. He was an older looking man, with strawberry blonde hair, and mustache. His ears were each pierced several times. The man looked at Emily and said, "Ah. I meet the other time manipulator at last."

_Other time manipulator… _Emily thought. _He must be…_

"Luxord, at your service." he said. "Now tell me; what is it that you can do?"

"I can stop time." Emily answered. Xemnas looked at the two and angrily said, "Go! Now!" Luxord looked at Xemnas, then towards Emily, and he nodded. He created a portal, and went through it, closely followed by Emily. When the portal had closed and they had been walking for a while, Emily asked, "What are we doing today?"

"We're going to a world called Port Royal. Let me try to explain." Luxord paused to take a breath before continuing. "There is a cursed Aztec treasure of medallions. When one or more of the medallions is stolen from the chest, there is a said curse. I have to get Sora to defeat a particularly large heartless, therefore releasing a large captive heart. I've a few tricks up my sleeves for this mission. Xemnas never specified _how_ it had to be done, he just wants it to happen." he finished explaining.

_Wonder what he's going to do… _Emily thought.

"Ah. Here we are. Put up your hood, and let's go." Luxord said while he put his own hood on. Emily found herself in a dark, moonlit cave. She could hear the ocean echoing throughout the place. A sound she knew all too well. Luxord led her into a large open space in the cave, that held many gold artifacts and treasures. Emily was entranced by how much gold there was. Many gold coins were scattered on the floor, a few large gold pots and vases here and there, and in the center of the place, a rather large golden box.

The box was filled to the top with small medallions, which each had a small skull and crossbones in the center. Luxord walked up to it.

"You! What is your purpose here!?" a man's voice asked from behind. Emily thought the man's accent was strange. When she turned she saw a rather handsome man, accompanied by several other men. They all had swords drawn. Luxord turned around slowly, and laughed at them. Luxord then called upon his weapons, which were, strangely, cards. He used them to attack, but let the men choose which card they wanted.

_Oh yea… _Emily thought. _He likes to play games when he battles!_ When the men realized that Luxord was too much of a match for them, the one who had spoken first cried, "Leave, now! We'll come back with more men!" And with that, the others all ran out of the cave, to a ship no doubt. On his way out, the handsome man got hit in the back of the head by one of Luxord's spinning cards. It didn't stop him, but it made him dazed. He was lucky enough to stumble his way out of the cave. Luxord didn't bother running after them, but he sent a few nobodies. Emily heard a few blood stifling screams that made her wince.

Luxord turned his attention back to the Aztec gold. Luxord snapped his fingers, and the chest levitated into the air.

"Come Xensen. We've got a ship to board." he said, creating a portal.

"A pirate ship!?" Emily asked, not sure whether she was excited, or frightened.

"If you want to call it that, then yes. A pirate ship." Luxord said, closing the portal.

They walked around the realm for short time before finding their exit. When they did, they found themselves standing on board a very large ship. Emily looked around, trying to keep her excitement to herself. She had always wanted to go on a ship this big. Suddenly, two doors towards the front of the ship burst open, and a strangely dressed man came out. He had a red bandana wrapped around his head. _He must be a pirate! _Emily thought excitedly.

"Don't remember invitin' you." he said. Luxord just stood next to the chest, which had stopped floating. Sora ran through the doors as well. He called his key blade and said, "So it was the Organization! We'll handle this!" He got into a fighting stance. Luxord began to walk behind the chest. And as he did so he said, "The darkness of men's hearts--- drawn to these cursed medallions. And this heartless--- a veritable maelstrom of avarice." Luxord snapped his fingers, and a huge heartless appeared behind him. Emily was having a hard time understanding Luxord's words.

"I wonder, are they worthy to serve Organization XIII?" he asked. Emily looked at the heartless; it was very large, and had a strange body shape. Emily wondered what type of being had created it. It couldn't have been a human… or could it?

"And you want an answer now?" the pirate man asked. Luxord looked at him and said, "Precisely." With that, he created a portal, which Emily just barely made it into.

"He should defeat that heartless quickly." Luxord said, staying next to their portal, keeping it open by an inch in diameter.

"So you can stop and start time. Can you show me?" Luxord asked Emily.

"Um--- sure I guess…" Emily said, taking Luxord's arm. "I need to touch you for you to be with me." Luxord nodded. Emily gave a wave of her hand, and everything floating throughout the realm stopped.

Emily let go of Luxord, who was putting down his hood. He stared around, as if making sure that time really had stopped.

"Fascinating…" he mumbled. Emily nodded, wondering when she should start time back up.

"I take it that you cannot defeat enemies in this state?" Luxord asked. Emily shook her head.

"Not if they're paused. I guess if you touched an enemy before you stopped time, you could defeat it--- but I've never tried that." Emily explained.

"Well, come, then. We should restart time and see if Sora's finished off my heartless." Luxord finally said, getting bored. Emily nodded, and lazily waved her arm. The small shapes and particles immediately became reanimated. Luxord opened the portal, just in time to hear a large splash.

"Oh boy!" Donald was crying.

"Not over yet!" Sora shouted, spotting Luxord and Emily.

Luxord let out a laugh, and just stared at the four of them.

"Throw them overboard." the pirate ordered, pointing at Luxord and Emily. Sora gave Emily a look, and then said, "Aye aye." Emily would have laughed at this if it weren't for the circumstances. Sora always used to play pirates with Riku when they were kids, but she thought he had out grown those days.

"Parley!" Luxord shouted.

"What?" Emily asked quietly. Luxord waved his hand to silence her.

"'Scuse me?" the pirate man asked.

"Barley?" Goofy asked. It seemed that everyone was just as confused as Emily was, but then the pirate man cleared things up.

"It's a bit of a pirate's code," he said. "Anyone who invokes 'parley' must not be harmed 'till negotiations are complete." Sora looked at him and argued, "This is no time for rules!"

"True," the pirate answered. "But as we're honorable pirates, we should always stick to the code." the pirate then turned his attention back to Luxord. "All right you," he said. "Out with it!"

To Emily's surprise, Luxord said, "I surrender the chest with my humblest apologies." _What? _Emily thought. _That's it? We're done?_

"Rather accommodating of you, mate. And for that you want…?" the pirate asked, waving his arm about.

"Just a few souvenirs." Luxord said. "For the memories…."

"Huh?" the pirate asked, clearly confused.

Luxord reached into the chest and took out four medallions. He then threw them up into the air, and four nobodies appeared and took them. After the nobodies disappeared, Goofy cried, "Oh no!" _Ahh_… Emily thought. _So this is what he was planning… this must have something to do with… that curse he mentioned? _Emily found she was right when Goofy explained, "We can't stop the curse unless we got all the medallions!"

"Our friends are about to learn what it means to cross a pirate." the pirate threatened.

"Oh?" Luxord asked. He snapped his fingers, and the heartless from before reappeared from the sea. Only this time, it looked different. It was much stronger.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy, he's yours!" the pirate ordered. The heartless swung its long spear, creating a strong gust of wind. Emily had to firmly plant her feet to keep from falling over from the force. Sora and his friends weren't so lucky. The gust of wind blew them from the ship everyone else was on, to a ship sailing a few yards away.

When they landed with a loud thud, Luxord cried, "Fire!"

"No!" Emily yelled, but Luxord paid no attention to her. The cannons on the ship fired several times, before a final blast from a cannon, and the other ship burst into flames.

"No!" Emily screamed again, running to the rail of the boat, reaching her arm out, as if it would help.

Luxord let out a chuckle as he and Emily sailed away. Emily turned on him angrily and shouted, "Why did you do that!?" Luxord gave her an empty stare before saying, "Don't fret child. Your brother's not finished yet. That's your task, remember? It isn't my job to finish him off. That belongs to you." Emily didn't say anything in return, but she went back to looking over the edge of the ship.

After a few minutes, Luxord joined Emily near the rail.

"He'll probably end up on the coast of the Isle del Muerto. That's where most of the destroyed ships go. The currents bring them there." he said. Emily stared out as far as she could; to where the sea met the sky. The peaceful sight calmed her down tremedously.

"What if he finds all your nobodies and the medallions?" she asked. Luxord looked out across the sea and half laughed as he said, "That's the point. If I'm supposed to lead him to a large heartless, why not make it fun?"

"Yea, fun for you…" Emily said starting to get mad again.

"It may be for our amusement---" he was interrupted.

"_Your_ amusement." Emily said. Luxord laughed.

"It may be for _my _amusement, but it's all for the Organization. I'm conducting a few research experiments. By now those four should be discovering that Jack, that pirate from the ship, is showing the effects of being cursed. You see, my theory is that if one from this world is touched by my cursed heartless, they too will become cursed. As far as I know, it is true." Luxord explained.

"So---" Emily started. "So if I was to be touched, then I would not become cursed? Seeing as I'm not from this world?" Luxord nodded his head.

"Yes. That is my belief. You're a clever one, aren't you." Emily hated to admit it, but she appreciated his comment. She smiled to herself.

"Could you answer a question for me?" she suddenly asked.

"Of course, child. What is it you wish to know?" Luxord said.

"It's just--- how does Sora get between the worlds so fast? I mean, we use portals, but those are dark magic, aren't they." she asked. Luxord nodded his head slowly before answering.

"Yes, no he doesn't use portals like we do. He uses a very special vessel, ship if you will, to move from world to world. It's called a 'Gummi Ship'. It's a exceptional instrument, but with our portal system, it's much easier. See, when navigating a Gummi Ship, you must steer out of the way of other Gummi Ships, and there are enemy Gummi ships as well.

"With portals, you simply walk from one destination to the other. It's a much less complicated way of traveling, or at least in my opinion. Does that answer your question?" Luxord asked, after explaining. Emily nodded.

"What's a Gummi Ship look like?" she asked, curious. Luxord laughed before answering, "My dear, there are many different types of Gummi Ships. You will have to find an answer on your own for that question."

Somewhat disappointed, Emily's reply was, "Oh." Emily left Luxord standing alone, as she went to explore the ship. The deck was the biggest part. She had never seen, let alone been on a ship this large; these were just unheard of back at the islands. There were two stair cases, which led up to a large steering wheel, Emily knew to be called the 'helm'. Emily grabbed it and said quietly, "Arg, mateys! Do we have our heading? Arg!"

"Poor imitation, but still very amusing." Luxord's voice said from behind. Emily jumped and turned around. She blushed with embarrassment.

"Uh--- sorry." she said, looking down at her feet. Suddenly there was a noise from below. Two doors swung open, and the handsome man from before stepped ran out, along with a young woman. Luxord quickly opened a portal and he and Emily escaped before the two people turned around.

"That was a close one!" Emily said, her heart beating a million miles per minute, or at least that's what it felt like.

"Yes, it was. I was unaware that there were others on the ship. Oh!" Luxord said. "They've found two of the medallions!"

"How do you know?" Emily asked.

"When one of my nobodies dies, I can feel it. It's a feeling only a superior nobody has. That's why you can't feel it." Luxord explained. Emily nodded.

After maybe a half hour or so, Luxord stood up and said, "It's time. They've found the remaining two medallions. Come. We go to Port Royal." Luxord said, walking towards a nearby exit portal.

"Okay." Emily said, following.

When they entered Port Royal, the place was quite empty. Luxord snapped his fingers and called up the large heartless.

"This should be an interesting battle. We must leave, Sora will be here soon." Luxord created a portal, and he and Emily went into it.

"What do we do now?" Emily asked.

"We wait for the heartless to be defeated of course." Luxord answered, keeping a small amount of the portal open.

They stood for a while. Emily could hear bashings and beatings, and not to mention magic. She could only imagine what the scene looked like. The fight was over in about a half an hour. Luxord opened the portal and he and Emily appeared behind a now dead, and lifeless heartless. The pirate, now known as Jack, was examining his hand.

"All better." Sora told him.

"Not quite, mate." Jack said, looking at Luxord and Emily.

Just then the heartless glowed a pinkish color, and a large heart came out of it. Luxord absorbed it in his hand.

"Sora." he said. "Bravo." As Luxord created a portal around himself and Emily, Emily gave Sora a look that said, 'I'm sorry.'. Then the portal engulfed her.

"Come now." Luxord said. "We must report the success of this mission to the Superior. Our news should please him."

"Mm hmm." Emily replied. She hoped he wasn't as furious as he was that morning. While they walked to their exit portal, Emily asked Luxord loads of questions about Gummi Ships. He didn't seem to mind, and he explained to her some of the different weapons that Gummi Ships could use. She found it all fascinating.

When they finally reached their exit, Emily saw Xemnas sitting in his chair.

"Superior. I would like to report a successful mission." Luxord said. He reached out his arm, and a large pink heart flowed out of his open hand. It floated to the window and tried to seek a way out. Xemnas stood up, opened the window, and watched the heart travel up into the sky, making its way to Kingdom Hearts.

"Thank you. Number ten, you are dismissed." Xemnas waited until Luxord's portal went away before saying, "Xensen. I must admit I was quite disappointed in you this morning. This success makes up for it. Thank you. Your time is nearing you know. A day that is coming very soon. I want to watch it. The battle. I've never seen you in action myself, and it would be quite--- exhilarating for me. Now. Axel has returned. I shall call for him." Xemnas shouted for Axel who appeared a minute later in a portal.

"You may leave, Xensen." Xemnas instructed. Emily nodded and joined Axel. He looked exhausted, and much thinner than he had the last time she'd seen him. She hugged him.

"You're back!" she said. Axel looked down at her, wearing an uncomfortable expression. He hesitantly patted her back and said, "Uh--- if my memory serves correct, I thought I told you the first day I met you; no touching me. But it's great to see you again too." He said, gently pushing Emily off of him.

"Do I even wanna know what you've been through?" Emily asked. Axel smiled and shook his head. "I don't really wanna talk about it. Come on. We should be getting back to my place. You look exhausted."

After walking for several minutes, Emily said sadly, "Axel… Demyx--- he's gone."

Axel looked down at her. "Really? I knew that kid wouldn't last long, but I have to admit that he lasted longer than I thought he would. Let me guess, he lost to Sora?" Emily nodded her head. They walked in silence the rest of the way.

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**A/N- I'm not telling where Emily is going next. You'll just have to wait to find out. :p hee hee hee i'm so evil at times.**

**well, you should click that little 'Go' button down there! because a magical lepricon will jump out and give you his pot of gold! okay, not really, but still...**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer- no kingdom hearts material shall ever belong to me.**

**A/N- Note that there is a character death in this chapter. :'( **

**Everything changes starting in this chapter. well, here's capitilo diez y siete.****

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Chapter 17

It was quiet when Emily woke up the next morning. She opened her eyes. She figured she must have slept in later than normal because she felt well rested. She was normally still sleepy when she woke up. She sat up and looked around, and spotted Axel in the kitchen.

"Hey, what's going on? No missions today?" she asked, getting up and joining him.

"No. Something's happened." Axel said seriously.

"What?" Emily asked, concerned.

"Well--- Someone's broken into our strong hold. Only thing is, is that we don't know who or where this person _or_ thing is. Xemnas has gone dusk crazy, and sent them out everywhere. Loads of them. Armies of them. Don't go out of this room, they might mistake you for the intruder. They'll attack anything, especially a person with a beating heart; that means you." Axel explained, pointing at Emily.

"Okay…" Emily said, confused. _Who could've broken into this place? And why would they want to? _She wondered.

"There's also--- well--- I'm not entirely sure, but I can feel that something's up. There's just--- something that's not right." Axel said. Emily didn't say anything. She wasn't sure what she _should_ say.

"I think---" Axel started. "I think it has something to do with your brother."

"Sora?" Emily asked, wondering what could've happened.

"Is he alright?" she asked.

"I think so. It's--- I can feel him. He's--- he feels close. He's coming." Axel said.

"No! Not yet! I'm not ready for this! Xemnas said--- he said that he wants to watch me fight him! I don't know what I'm going to do! Oh---" Emily rambled.

"Whoa. Slow down! Don't think about it know, it'll only make you more worried than you already are." Axel told her. Another thought crossed Emily's mind.

"How can Sora get here? Don't you need to get here through a portal?" she asked.

Axel nodded and replied, "Yes. You remember Twilight Town, don't you?" Axel asked. Emily nodded her head.

"Well," Axel continued. "There's two of 'em. There's one where Roxas lived, and the other is the one where we picked up Kairi."

"Two… Twilight Towns…" Emily repeated, trying to make sense of it.

"Yes." Axel answered, although it really wasn't a question. "The one that Roxas's from, well, there's an entry point there. It's like an everlasting portal from that world to ours. Sora's close to that portal. If he goes in there--- well--- there's not much hope for him. There are so many dusks in the realm between portals now, it's almost insane. He'll get too tired to fight. I just wish there was a way---"

"A way for us to help him." Emily finished his sentence. Axel nodded.

Emily began thinking.

"Maybe---" she began. "Maybe there is a way for us to help him!"

"How do you mean?" Axel asked, looking at her curiously.

"Well," Emily said, excitement brewing inside of her. "What if we went to that realm, and helped him get through it!? You said it's an everlasting portal, right?" Axel nodded and Emily continued. "What if we find that portal's exit, and we went into it! We could help him fight off those dusks!"

Axel stared at her before saying slowly, "Maybe…you're right. But how would we do it without Xemnas knowing we did it?" he asked. Emily thought before answering, "We won't tell him we're leaving! He's probably expecting you to keep me here, what with all the dusks roaming around. He'll never know we left!"

"I guess that might work… but I'm still not sure." Axel contradicted.

"We'll never know unless we try." Emily said reassuringly.

Just when she thought Axel was never going to agree with her he said, "Come on then. Let's go. Maybe I'll get lucky and get to see Roxas. Hurry up before I change my mind, or before the dusks finish Sora off." Axel said. Emily turned around, smiling the biggest smile she'd smiled since she'd gotten taken away. Axel was already inside a portal.

Emily ran next to him and said, "I know you don't like it when I do this, but…" Emily said. She hugged him. "Thank you." she said, a tear forming in her eye.

"Come on. None of this sappy stuff. You gatta get a hold of yourself!" Axel told her, but he wasn't pushing her away either, that is until he couldn't take it anymore.

"Oh enough of this already." he said.

"Sorry." Emily said as she pulled away, wiping her eyes.

When they went through their exit, Emily found herself on the outskirts of the city. It was a very dark and gloomy place, with shadows lurking behind every object.

"The exit we're looking for is somewhere near here. Ah. There it is." Axel said, pointing to a large round sphere of darkness. It didn't look like the other portals. When they entered it, they saw Sora, Donald, and Goofy fighting many white dusks, that seemed to be endlessly coming from nowhere.

"It's no use!" Sora yelled. Axel ran forward and said, "Don't stop moving or the darkness will over take you!" Axel called his weapons and leaped into action. He wiped out two of the nobodies. Emily nodded to herself, and called her key blade. It appeared instantly. Emily ran down to join Axel, who told Sora, "Get goin'!"

Sora looked back and forth from Axel to Emily before asking, "Why!?"

"Don't ask just do it!" Axel replied, annoyed.

"Go on Sora!" Emily cried. Suddenly a nobody from behind jumped out onto Axel, knocking Emily over in the process.

"Ow!" Emily cried as she hit the ground. Axel wasn't lucky enough. The nobody jumped on him and began attacking.

Sora ran up and slashed the nobody with his key blade. Emily stood up and ran next to Sora, looking at Axel.

"You okay?" Sora asked him. Axel stood up, and answered Sora's question from before; from Hollow Bastion.

"I kidnapped Kairi. And your sister. But Kairi got away from me. Saïx took her to the castle dungeon. Saïx. Got it memorized? Now go save her! Take Xensen--- er…Emily with you!" Axel ordered.

That was not part of the plan. They were supposed to help Sora, and Emily wasn't supposed to go with Sora; not yet anyway. Emily gave Axel a painful look. Suddenly a nobody launched itself at Sora's back.

"Sora!" Emily shouted, pointing to the dusk. Sora turned around quickly and struck the nobody with a mighty blow of his blade.

"Leave us alone!" he shouted at them.

Emily put her key blade in a fighting position, and all of them began hacking away at the dusks. Emily used her Nes-Nex attack to her benefit, and knocked out four nobodies. It seemed as if every nobody they defeated, two more took its place. Soon they were surrounded. Sora, Emily, and Axel stood back to back.

"I think I liked it better when they were on my side." Axel commented. Sora turned to look at him and said, "Feeling a little--- regret?" Sora pronounced each syllable.

"He can't _feel _anything." Emily muttered, although it seemed as if neither of them had heard her.

"Nah. I can handle these punks." Axel said smoothly. "Watch this!"

Axel jumped in the center of a group of nobodies, and made his circular weapons float above the ground. He then set them on fire, and sent them spinning. After they were spinning so fast around him that you couldn't follow their movement, Axel let out a roar and sent them flying in opposite directions. Axel raised into the air, and everything around him caught fire. Emily and Sora had to shield their eyes from the brightness, and the heat. When it was over, they each removed their arms from their faces.

Emily jumped back in shock. Every single one of the nobodies were gone.

"Whoa!" Sora said, looking around.

"Oh! Bu--- but where's---" Emily started. She turned around and saw Axel lying on the ground, face up. She and Sora ran over to him.

"No!" Emily cried out softly, kneeling down next to him. His body was fading, just as the others' had.

"You're--- fading away!" Sora stated the obvious. Emily could feel the tears flowing down her face.

"Well," Axel said softly. "That's what happens when you put your whole being into an attack. You know what I mean?" Axel asked.

"Axel…" Emily said. Axel let out a soft laugh before continuing, "Not that nobodies actually _have_ beings, right? Anyway, I digress. Go. Find Kairi. Xensen, go with him. It doesn't matter what Xemnas says anymore." Axel ordered. Emily shook her head, tears continuing to pour out.

"Oh," Axel started. "I almost forgot. Sorry for what I did to Kairi. And… sorry for lying to you Xensen. I was in on Xemnas's whole 'plan' before. Sorry for not saying anything sooner." Emily nodded at his words, unable to speak, as her body was overtaken by sobs.

"When we find Kairi," Sora said. "You can tell her yourself." Axel looked away from both of them and said, "Think I'll pass. My heart just wouldn't be in it, you know? Haven't got one." Axel started laughing.

"Axel…" but that was all Emily managed to get out.

"Axel, what were you trying to do?" Sora asked.

"To tell you the truth--- I wanted to see Roxas. He--- he was the only one I liked…" Axel said. Sora and Emily just stared at him. "He made me feel…" Axel continued. "Like I had a heart. It's kind of funny. Both of you make me feel… the same…" Axel's face went from a soft expression to a stern one. "Kairi's in the castle dungeon. Now go!" Axel used what was left of his strength to open a portal.

"Axel." Sora said. And with that, Axel simply ceased to exist. His body burst into black ashes, and he was gone.

"No!" Emily shouted, grabbing the ground where Axel had been with her hands. Sora put his hand on her back and said, "Hey, it's okay." Emily shook her head. She pulled herself up to her feet.

She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. She looked at Sora, who had also stood up.

"Sora," Emily said. "There's something you should know." Sora looked at her.

"And what's that?" he asked. Emily couldn't look him in the eyes.

"When--- when I first got here--- I was told that I was the only one who could save you. They told me that you were on the wrong side, and you needed to join the right one.

"They told me--- they said there were only two ways for me to do it. I either had to unlock your heart with my key blade, therefore releasing your nobody, or I had to lose to you, showing you the error of your ways. I--- didn't even realize that what they told me was a lie. That is until Axel told me what they were planning. I'm--- I'm so sorry." when she looked up, Sora was staring at her, a deep look of hurt in his eyes.

"I just thought you should know that. And--- and now I don't know what to do. If Xemnas finds me with you--- he'll--- I don't know what he'll do. He's only after yours and my nobodies. He doesn't care how he gets them." Emily continued. Sora still neglected to say something, so Emily told him what she thought they should do.

"I have an idea. I don't really have time to explain, but, I think it might just work. You've just gotta trust me, okay?" Emily didn't want to go to into depth, it would take too long. The plan formed itself in her mind, not in full detail, but it was enough.

Sora nodded.

"Okay." he said. Emily smiled, then ran into the portal.

"Hey! Where---" but that's all she heard. She had to hurry back to the castle.

**_8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8_**

Emily ran through the empty realm, concentrating with all her heart that she wanted to exit inside the castle. She was concentrating so hard that her key blade was glowing a soft light. Finally she came to an exit. She hoped it was the one she was looking for.

It was! Only someone was there, as if he had been waiting for her.

"Saïx!" she yelled in surprise.

"And where are you coming from?" he questioned. Emily thought before replying, "I was on my way to tell Superior that Sora has arrived."

"Superior is well aware of that, dear girl. Now come with me. You can't roam a big castle like this all on your own." Saïx opened a portal and pushed Emily through it.

They exited into a new part of the castle; Emily had never been to this part before. If Emily wasn't so frightened of him, she would've asked Saïx where they were. They continued walking before stopping in front of a large, purple cell. _We must be in the dungeon! _Emily thought. She was right. Kairi was standing behind the bars. She shot a hurtful look at Emily, and she glared at Saïx when she asked, "What're you going to do with us?" She pointed to the dog to indicate why she said, 'us'.

"You're the fire that feeds Sora's anger." was all that Saïx replied. He walked away, leaving Emily there. When Emily was sure that Saïx was out of ear shot, she ran up to the bars and said quietly, "I'm so sorry Kairi! When I said those mean things to you--- it wasn't me!" Kairi looked into Emily's eyes and said, "I know. But--- I--- Sora's in danger because of me!…"

Emily shook her head, but then noticed a portal appearing behind Kairi. She pointed to It. Kairi turned around. Before Emily could see who was coming from the portal, she heard Saïx's voice yell, "Xensen!"

"I gatta go!" she whispered. Kairi nodded, and began to walk towards whoever it was that had formed the portal.

When Emily caught up with Saïx, there was a flash of blinding white light.

"No… Naminé..." Saïx said. He grabbed Emily and pulled her into a portal. _Who's Naminé? _Emily wondered. Saïx shoved Emily's hood over her head. When she and Saïx finally exited, Emily found herself on an outer ledge of the castle. There stood Kairi, holding hands with a blonde girl, dressed in white.

"Naminé… there you are." Saïx said coolly. He called up two large nobodies.

"Naminé…?" Kairi asked. Apparently she didn't even know who the girl was. This girl, Naminé, glared at Saïx.

"Kairi… I'm afraid leaving is not an option." Saïx said. He offered his hand as he said, "I'll take you to see Sora." _You liar… _Emily thought. As Kairi took a step back, Saïx said, "You don't want that?"

"I do." Kairi answered. "More than anything. But not with you around." Kairi and Naminé both got into fighting stances, although they had no weapons.

"If I had a heart, this would be where I die of laughter." Saïx said. There was a loud clinking sound from behind. Emily and Saïx both turned to see one of the large nobodies fall. Behind it stood another man in black. His hood was up, and he carried a strange looking key blade. Emily cocked her eyebrow. Did she know this guy?

"You…" Saïx said. "Didn't Roxas take care of you?"

Suddenly, Naminé said, "You can take it from here, Riku."

"Huh?" Emily said. How could this be Riku? It didn't even look like Riku. He looked more like a member of Organization XIII more than anything else.

"Riku?" Kairi asked, giving the same confused expression as Emily.

The man, or Riku, let his key blade disappear, and he blasted a ball of light towards Emily and Saïx. Emily tried to dodge out of the way, but the blast caught her shoulder, and knocked her down, making her hood fall off her head. The man looked at Emily, but did nothing. Emily watched, wide-eyed as Saïx flipped through the air, and landed on his feet. Whoever he was, the black cloaked man quickly shoved Saïx against the wall. Saïx was too clever, and he created a portal, which he sank into, leaving Emily on the ground.

The man was about to enter along with Saïx, when Kairi called out, "Wait!" Emily stood up and watched as the man backed up. The yellow dog ran up to him and let out a few friendly barks. Kairi walked up to him and said, "Riku… you're really here…" She put down his hood. Emily watched as a very dark man with silver hair was revealed. His appearance was more like Xemnas than the Riku Emily remembered.

"Is--- is it really you… Riku?" Emily asked, joining Kairi. Riku continued to stare down at the ground. Emily felt uneasy. The portal that Saïx had created was still there. They normally disappeared, unless someone behind the portal was keeping it open.

"Um--- hold...on..." Emily said as she left the group, and went to examine the open portal. A hand suddenly reached out and grabbed her. Emily let out a scream.

"Em!" was all she heard Kairi scream before the portal closed.

"It's time for an early family reunion." It was Saïx. "We no longer need your brother, or your services. It's time for you to join him for your demise. Kingdom Hearts is nearing its completion." Saïx grabbed Emily's arm and pulled her to the exit portal.

"Let go of me! I'm through with listening to you guys! I've been betraying you ever since I found out about your plans, you know!" Emily shouted.

"Hmm. I suspect Axel's the one who told you. He met his end, as you will soon meet yours."

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**A/N- The end is nearing. :'(**

**Oh, and, yay for over 1400 hits:D**

**reviews any one?**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: don't own.**

**A/N- MAJOR spoilers in this chapter! if u havn't finished kingdom hearts II, i suggest not reading this! but it's totally up to you whether you decide you or not. well, without futher adu, capitulo deiz y ocho! _claps and applause_****

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**Chapter 18**

Emily knew that struggling against Saïx wouldn't do her any good. She squinted her eyes and let him take her to wherever they were going. When they exited the portal, Emily found herself in, yet again, new surroundings. She was on a balcony in a rather large, open room. Instead of the usual white, this room was a dark, gray-blue color. Emily saw Sora enter the room far below, but she couldn't scream. She came to the conclusion that Saïx was using some form of dark magic to restrain her. She struggled all she could, but it was useless.

"Sora…" Saïx said, in his frightening calm voice. "You've done well." Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked around before they spotted Saïx up above. Emily frantically waved her arms, but from her height, she doubted that Sora could see her movements.

"Where's Kairi!? And what have you done with my sister!?" Sora shouted.

"Kairi?" Saïx repeated. "Who knows. I expect she's catching up with her friend from the darkness." Saïx failed to answer Sora's question about Emily.

Emily again tried to wave her arms, but she had to stop, her arms were beginning to burn.

"What do you mean!?" Sora demanded.

"She doesn't need you anymore." Saïx said, giving a dramatic wave of his hand.

"I'm supposed to believe that?" Sora asked, sarcastically.

"Well, you don't have to…" Saïx said. "But you can believe this. Organization XIII has no further use for you, or your brat of a sister. Just look there." Saïx pointed to Kingdom Hearts, which could be clearly seen out of a huge window. Emily glared at him, trying desperately to break the barrier around her mouth that was preventing her from speaking.

"Our Kingdom Hearts…" Saïx continued. "Thanks to you, we've collected countless hearts… Can you hear their euphoria? Now all they need is one more helping from the key blade bearers!" Saïx explained. Emily watched as Saïx snapped his fingers. At once the walls of the room became large entry portals, which hundreds upon hundreds of heartless came forth from. Emily watched in horror as her brother and his new friends stood back to back, surrounded.

"We gatta fight!" Donald cried.

"But--- Kingdom Hearts!" Sora argued. Then another voice cried Sora's name. It was Kair! She was standing on another balcony, across from where Emily stood.

"Sora! It's really you!" she cried. Sora turned, and when he saw her, he shouted, "Kairi!" But when he turned his back, several heartless leaped onto his back. Kairi gasped, and Emily would have too, if it weren't for the magic.

"You leave Sora alone!" Kairi shouted angrily. She shook her fist at the heartless menacingly.

Then, with cat-like reflexes, Kairi leaped off the side of the balcony, and landed on the balcony below. Several heartless appeared, and surrounded her. With all her concentration, Emily called her key blade, and pointed it at her mouth. The key blade emitted a beam of light, and Emily felt the magic leave her face at once. Saïx turned and said to her, "I have no further use for you. Why don't you join your little friend." Emily didn't have time to react. Saïx grabbed her arm, and flung her over the rail. Emily dropped her key blade (which disappeared) and she screamed as the balcony below rushed up to meet her. "Hey!" Emily heard Sora's voice cry out.

Just when she thought it was all over, she felt a pair of strong arms catch her. It was Riku! Emily put her arms around his neck, open mouthed. She whispered, "This is the second time you've had to save me. How am I ever supposed to repay you?" Riku said nothing, and set her down gently. He nodded to her, then ran towards Kairi, who was being attacked by the heartless. He called his key blade, and created a flash of light that easily wiped out the heartless. In his other hand he called another key blade; a golden one, with a flowery blade, and a semi blue handle. He handed it to Kairi.

"Take it." he said. It didn't sound like Riku at all. His voice was very deep and full of sorrow. Emily ran to join them, calling her key blade back.

"This time--- I'll fight." Kairi said confidently. "You know Sora's completely helpless without us! Come on guys…" Kairi and Emily nodded to each other and lunged at the little heartless creatures; the same ones that attacked Emily and the rest of her family the night Sora left. Riku soon joined them.

Emily looked up and saw Saïx entering a portal. Emily had a feeling she was done with portals: forever. She smiled to herself, feeling a great burden lift off of her. She used her newly found energy to perform her Nes-Nex attack. Kairi looked at her friend, amazed at what she was doing, but quickly reverted to fighting.

"Have you been a good boy?" An all too man's voice asked.

"Xigbar!" Emily growled, though she continued to fight off heartless; it was proving to be tiring. She looked up and saw Xigbar standing where she had been held captive by Saïx.

"Oh. It sounds like you haven't. Funny--- your sister wasn't very good either. You two are more alike than you think." Xigbar said.

"Sora! Roxas!" he shouted.

"He's Sora!" Emily shouted, bashing a large heartless in the head.

"Roxas?" Sora asked; he still didn't know.

"You and your sister have really put Organization XIII in a pickle. I guess that might be why the key blades chose you. But man did they pick _duds_, this time. Neither of you look like half the heroes the others were." Emily scowled at Xigbar's words. She didn't particularly like him the first time she met him, but she had trusted him with her time incident secret. But that didn't matter anymore.

"Are you done rambling?" Sora asked angrily.

"Rambling! As if…" Xigbar replied. "All I'm trying to tell you, traitor, is that your time is up!" Emily watched as Xigbar called his weapons; two large strange looking purple swords. Xigbar leaped from the highest balcony, down to the lowest floor. Kairi gasped and Emily reassured her, "He can take him. I've seen him handle guys like that before." Kairi nodded, and they resumed bashing heartless.

After a long, noisy battle, Emily heard Xigbar's weapons clank on the floor.

"Why did you call me Roxas?" Sora asked. Xigbar laughed and said, "Wouldn't you like to know…" Emily heard the all too familiar sound of a body disintegrating.

"Yes!" She said, knocking a flying heartless to the ground.

"Sora!" Donald shouted. As to what he said after that, Emily didn't know. It was getting too noisy to hear anything else.

**_8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8_**

Out side, Xemnas stood on a ledge that looked out at his Kingdom Hearts.

"Yes…" he muttered. "Kingdom Hearts… Rejoice! Feast on these hearts that we offer!" he extended both his arms. He was so close, yet so far away.

"Shine your pale light on this empty realm…" he continued. "Share you power with all nobodies!" He heard a portal forming behind him, and turned around.

"Xemnas…" it was Saïx. "Is Kingdom Hearts ready?"

"Very soon." he answered.

"Then I can end this charade?" Saïx asked darkly.

Xemnas turned and said, "Indeed." An evil smile spread over Saïx's face.

"How I've waited to hear that." he said. Before he could leave, Xemnas asked, "Xensen is no longer with us, am I correct?"

"Yes, Superior. She has seen Riku, and is fighting along side him and the other girl as we speak." Saïx answered. Xemnas nodded once before turning back to his Kingdom Hearts. "I see." He said.

**_8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8_**

Sora found his way up to the level Emily, Kairi, and Riku were fighting on. They fought through several more rounds of heartless before they stopped coming. They all looked around, just to be sure they hadn't missed one. Donald was the first to speak. "Emily! Kairi! You were great!" Emily and Kairi, who had been standing side by side, both turned. Kairi looked at Sora and playfully tossed her hair. Emily smiled. She leaned on her right leg, and crossed her arms over her chest. Kairi and Sora walked up to each other.

"You are different Kairi." Sora said to her. "But I'm just glad you're here!"

"You and Riku never came home. That's when Emily left with Axel, and I went looking for you." Kairi replied. Sora looked down, a look of hurt in his eyes. He turned his head away and said, "I'm sorry---" That's when Kairi ran up to him, and hugged him. It was a major shocker for Sora. He turned his head, and stood open mouthed in surprise. Emily shook her head at them, smiling the whole time.

_Oh Sora… _She said in her head. Sora kept his arms off Kairi, and left them hanging out at odd angles.

"This is real…" Kairi said, her head on his shoulder. Sora looked at her, closed his eyes, and hugged her back. Emily couldn't help but smile one of her brother's tade mark goofy smiles. She had always known this moment would come. Donald crossed his arms, and Goofy put his hands to his mouth.

Emily heard a noise from behind. Riku had opened a portal, and was about to walk through it before Sora called, "Wait! Ansem…!" Emily put on a puzzled look and said quietly, "Ansem… who's that?" Riku stopped, but didn't turn.

"I mean--- Xehanort's heartless…" Sora said quickly. It was then that Emily remembered something that Axel had mentioned before. '_Xemnas is Xehanort's nobody_.' Axel's voice echoed through her head. _Then---_ she thought. _That means that a heatless would have to be in existance too. So that heartless is...Ansem--- But--- that's Riku... _

"I never thought for a second that I'd ever see you again…" Sora continued. "Just thinking about all the things you did makes me really mad. But…" Sora paused. "But you saved Kairi… and my sister… right? I have to be grateful for that! Thanks."

"Uh--- Sora… that's not---" Emily muttered. Riku began walking towards his portal when Kairi ran to him, and stopped him. She grabbed his arm.

"Riku!" she cried. "Don't go!" Sora jumped at her words.

"Kairi!" he shouted. "What did you just say?"

"Riku---" Kairi said, turning towards Sora. Sora looked from her to Emily, who nodded her head. Riku turned and said in his deep voice, "I'm no one--- just a castaway from the darkness."

"Sora come here! Say something to him!" Kairi cried. Emily walked over, closely followed by Sora.

"Here." Kairi said, handing Riku's hand to Sora. "You'll understand." Emily looked at Kairi, who nodded and said to Sora, "Close your eyes." Sora looked down, and shut his eyes. Riku turned to look at him, staring with the same intense orange eyes as Xemnas. Emily didn't know what Sora saw, but it made him smile. _He must be seeing the _true_ Riku… _Emily thought.

Sora finally opened his eyes, and looked at Riku, his mouth hung open.

"Riku!" he cried, sinking to his knees, tears falling from his eyes.

"It's Riku! Riku's here!" Sora shuddered as he cried, "I looked for you!" Emily gasped, then smiled as Riku said, in his regular voice, "C'mon Sora! You've got to pull it together." Tears continued to pour from Sora's eyes as he said, "I looked everywhere for you!"

"I didn't want you to find me." Riku answered point blankly. Sora gave him a puzzled look. Then Goofy asked, "But it was him that was helpin' us, wasn't it? Those clues we kept finding! That musta been Riku!" Sora stood up as Riku said, "I was starting to worry you guys weren't ever gonna catch on. Sora never did pick the _brightest_ friends." Donald stomped his foot and said, "What do you mean by that!?"

Sora looked at Riku and asked, "Why didn't you let me know you were okay?"

"I told you." Riku answered. "I didn't wanna be found…" Riku turned his head away. "Not like this… I couldn't." Riku examined his hands. "I fought with Ansem. With… Xehanort's heartless." Riku put his hand over his heart as he said, "When it invaded my heart, and I won. But to use the power of darkness, I had to become Ansem myself."

Emily soaked in his words and asked, "Does that mean--- mean you won't ever change back?" Riku looked at her and said, "This battle isn't over. And until it is… I still need the power of darkness." Sora looked up at him and said, "Then… let's finish it. You're still Riku, no matter what." Goofy and Donald joined them, and nodded. Kairi and Emily nodded their heads as well.

Sora turned to everyone and asked, "So how 'bout it!? Think we can handle one last rumble together? The king's waiting!" _That little mouse… _Emily thought. Emily nodded, she finally was able to do something to help, instead of hinder.

"Let's do it!" she shouted, throwing her fist into the air. Sora looked at her and said, "What was that plan you told me? Back in--- wherever we were?"

Emily winced slightly as she said, "It doesn't matter anymore. I'm not doing _anything _for those organization freaks anymore! I'm with you all the way from here on out." Sora smiled at her and said, "Good. I can finally be with you. It was hard knowing my little sister was out there somewhere, without me there to help." Emily smiled and said, "Well imagine how I felt, knowing you were out here, getting full force of what the Organization was doing."

"Um--- guys?" Donald asked. "Are we gonna stop this organization or what?" Sora nodded and said, "Let's go."

They walked out a door that led them to a pathway winding around the exterior of the castle. They all looked up at the sky. Kingdom Hearts was at its biggest, and there was a strange, green light going to it.

"What's that?" Sora was the first to ask.

"It's the king and DiZ." Riku answered.

"Who's DiZ?" Emily asked, curious.

"Ansem the wise." Riku answered.

"Oh, that's great." Emily said, sarcastically. "Who's Ansem the wise?"

"He's--- man. I forgot there's so much that you still don't know. Well---" Sora said. He and Riku then went on to explain this 'Ansem the wise' character. When they were finished, Emily finally understood a few things.

"Oh." she said.

"He and the king must be higher up. We'd better hurry." Riku said. As they started their ascent, a portal appeared in front of them.

"No! No more!" Emily shouted angrily calling her key blade. When the man exited, Emily recognized him at once. "Luxord!" she cried. Luxord did nothing to acknowledge her presence.

Instead, he snapped his fingers, and his card style weapons surrounded everyone but Sora. The backs of the cards had small clocks on them. As they spun, Emily and the others grew dizzy. There was a bright flash of light, and the cards had disappeared. Emily, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy found themselves in an empty white void.

"Where are we?" Kairi asked, glancing around.

"I don't know." Emily replied truthfully.

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**A/N- so what did you think? Emily's finally with her brother and the others at last. :) share you thoughts in a review!**

**- yay! i've finally hit 1600 hits! **


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: don't own**

**A/N- well, here it is. chapter 19. so close to being over. so sad. i really enjoyed doing this story. okay. i'm sure you're bored with my rambling, so here we go. Capitulo diez y nueve.****

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Chapter 19

"So…this Luxord guy… what does he do?" Riku asked after surveying his new surroundings. Emily turned to him and answered, "He's a time manipulator, like me. He uses cards and trickery instead of regular weapons."

"Time manipulator like--- you?" Riku asked. Emily nodded.

"Come here. I'll show you." Emily said. Riku hesitated before finally deciding to walk over. Emily took his hand, and waved her other one. Time halted. Donald and Goofy were standing a ways away, engaged in some conversation, and Kairi stood, facing Riku and Emily.

"I can pause time, and if I touch other people, I can take them with me." Emily explained.

Riku nodded and looked at Kairi, who was frozen in place.

"You can't attack in this state, and you can't move things either. Everything turns into--- a statue." Emily said. Riku reached out to touch Kairi's arm.

"I guess it was never meant to be." he said randomly.

"What?" Emily asked, curious. Riku took his hand off Kairi's and said, "Sora's the only one for Kairi, it was never me that she liked--- in that way anyway. I wish I could've realized that earlier."

"Come on, Riku." Emily said to him. "There's some one out there meant to be with you--- you just haven't found her yet. Just be patient and wait; and never give up." Riku looked at her and said, "Thanks for the advise. Oh, and just so you know, you don't owe me for anything. Just everyone getting back home safely would be pay back enough." Emily nodded, and looked at Kairi's troubled face.

"Come on. We should get back to regular time. We're leaving Kairi out." Emily said. Riku nodded. Emily waved her arm and time resumed. Kairi looked confused before saying, "I wish you'd given me a better warning. So, what'd I miss?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing much. I was just explaining to Riku my power--- whoa!" Emily said, jumping back. Luxord's cards surrounded them.

"What's going on?" Kairi asked. Emily didn't answer because the spinning of the cards was making her sick. As soon as it started, it seemed to stop. The cards disappeared, and everyone looked around to see where they were now. Back at the Castle That Never Was.

Sora was standing in front of them, Luxord no where in sight. _He must've defeated him… _Emily thought. The group walked up to him and Kairi asked, "You okay?"

"Yea!" Sora answered, a grin spreading across his face. "Now worries. Let's keep moving." Sora turned to face a type of door portal, which led to a room called "Proof of Existence". In this room, it showed all of the Organization's Proof names. Most of the names glowed a faint red, but a two still glowed a vibrant blue. There was one other door portal in the room, and they all entered it.

This door led to a large room, which had instead of a wall, a large window. There was a clear view of Kingdom Hearts, and the strange green light. There was a man starring at it. Emily drew her key blade as she growled, "Saïx!" Saïx turned and ignored Emily's comment.

"Only you could've made it this far… Roxas." he said to Sora. _He's not Roxas! Even if Roxas is a part of him! _Emily thought.

"That's really getting old!" Sora yelled.

Goofy and Donald stood in front of Sora and defended him.

"Yea! He's Sora!" Donald shouted. Saïx brandished a large, frightening weapon.

"Different name, same fate." he said calmly. He swung his weapon, which created a strong gust of wind. Sora, Donald, and Goofy stood their ground. Emily tried, but the force of the blow was too strong, and pushed her back. Riku jumped in front of Kairi, who was not sure what to do. After Kairi, Emily, and Riku were far enough away, a strange, pink force field appeared. Emily swung her key blade at it, but it did no good.

She let the blade disappear.

"Good luck…" She said quietly, placing her hand against the barrier. Sora then went on to fight possibly one of the toughest members of the organization. For a while it was unclear of who would win, but Sora prevailed yet again. Saïx stumbled back and dropped his weapon. He staggered over to the window, and stared at Kingdom Hearts.

"Why…" he mumbled. "Kingdom Hearts… Where is my heart?" As Saïx reached out to the moon and began disintegrating, Emily growled, "You don't deserve one."

The force field disappeared and the group rejoined Sora. Sora turned to them and said, "I don't get it. Why's everybody been calling me Roxas?"

"Well…" Emily wondered how she was supposed to explain this, but Riku intervened by saying, "Because Sora, Roxas is your nobody." Emily looked down to the floor. Riku certainly didn't beat around the bush. Sora looked on, wide-eyed and asked, "My… nobody!? But that's crazy! I never turned into a heart---" Then his expression changed as he said, "Oh--- right."

Emily knew she wasn't there when Sora went off on his first adventure, so she could only imagine what it might've looked like. Kairi spoke up as she said, "It was when you came to rescue me, remember?" Sora nodded and Riku went on to explain that Xemnas was the one who found Roxas. Roxas could use the key blade because he was Sora's nobody.

"That's why Xemnas brought him to the Organization--- sort of why he brought Emily here…" Riku said. Emily looked down, feeling stupid that she had believed Xemnas's words to be true.

"But Roxas betrayed the Organization. Same as Em. After Roxas left, I fought him because I thought it would wake you up." Riku's words made Emily smile. All the key blade wielders were good after all. _Of course… _Emily thought. _Such a powerful weapon of light, how could it be used for darkness?_

"I lost." Riku continued. "But the next time we met, I made sure_ I_ was the stronger one. Maybe I didn't need to fight him after all. I think he left the organization because… he really wanted to meet you." At that, Sora's eyes lit up before he gazed down.

"Roxas…" he said sadly. "I wish I could meet him, too." Riku took a step closer, and pointed to Sora's heart. Sora put his hand to it, and Riku turned around as he said, "All right. Let's go."

"Oh," Emily whispered to herself. "I get it now." They all left and returned to Proof of Existence. A door way had become unlocked at the top of the room. After walking up a few levels, Emily could see to figures in the distance, the mouse king, and the out line of a man she did not recognize. Sora ran ahead and called, "Your Majesty!"

When they were near enough, Emily could see that this strange man had blond hair, and was in a red outfit.

"Ansem the Wise…" She said to herself. Ansem turned towards the group and said, "Sora, the rest is up to you… And Roxas--- I doubt you can hear me… but, I am sorry." Ansem closed his orange eyes and looked down towards the ground. Ansem was holding some kind of machine that was responsible for the green beam of light. The machine seemed to be malfunctioning.

"Ansem!" the mouse king cried, Emily just wanted to squeeze the little mouse, he was so cute, but she resisted. Ansem said to the mouse, "My heart is telling me what I must do. Please allow me to do what it says!" The mouse hung his head and cried, "No!" Riku reached out and grabbed the mouse's shoulder.

"Riku!" the mouse cried.

"His heart's decided! We can't change that!" Riku said.

"Oh---" Emily winced as she heard a portal open. She knew who it had to be, there was only one member of Organization XIII left. Emily stood behind Sora, not wanting to be seen.

"I was wondering who would dare interfere with my Kingdom Hearts." Xemnas said.

"And look---" he paused as he turned around. "Here you all are. How convenient for me." Xemnas glared at everyone before saying, "Ansem the Wise. You look pathetic."

Ansem said fiercely, "Have your laugh. I deserve as much for failing to see you for the fool you are."

"Students do take after their teachers…" Xemnas replied. Emily glared at him. "Only a fool would be your apprentice. After all, none of this would have happened without you." As Xemnas spoke his next words, he waved his arms about dramatically. "_You_ are the source of all heartless. It was your research that inspired me to go further than you ever dared."

_Ansem was… Xemnas's teacher? _Emily thought to herself. Ansem replied, "I admit… my disregard brought chaos to more worlds than one. But what were _you_ seeking? You erased me from the world, only to take my name and continue research better left forgotten. Is this what you've been looking for?" Ansem asked.

"All that and more…" Xemnas answered. "I'm carrying on what you yourself began! And I'm creating a brand new world, one heart at a time. I thought you'd praise me, but all you ever do is hold me back. I understand though. Unlike me, you have a heart, and you're powerless to control it." Xemnas was using a tone that Emily had never heard him use before.

"Consumed by the jealousy you feel towards the student who surpassed you." Xemnas paused.

"Xehanort." was Ansem's only reply. "Foolish apprentice of a foolish man. You have surpassed nothing--- only proved how little we both know." Ansem struggled to hold the machine steady, but he continued. "We may profess to know the heart, but its essence is beyond our reach. We're both ignorant--- as oblivious as when we began. I'm afraid, any world you try to create--- any world of yours… would be an empire of ignorance. That is why you and your creation are destined to fall!"

Ansem the wise's machine was becoming more and more uncontrollable. It was also emitting strange noises.

"We've said enough!" Ansem shouted. He turned to Riku and said, "Riku! You know what to do!" Ansem then turned towards the king and said, "King Mickey my friend, forgive me! Farewell!" _Mickey… _Emily thought. Ansem's machine began to light up, and as it exploded, Sora, Goofy, and Donald, all ran to try and stop it. Riku blocked them. Even though Emily had not known the man, she couldn't help but let a tear escape her eye.

After a huge flash and a sonic boom, tiny white particles flew through the air. And even then, it was not over. Another huge blast of blinding light exploded into the area. Hearts then proceeded to fall everywhere. When it was all over, Emily found herself and the others all lying on the ground. Sora was the first to get up. Emily heard him shout, "Riku!" She sat up immediately. Had something happened to him? Was he hurt? Emily looked up and saw Riku himself getting up. But he looked different. A black blindfold covered his eyes, but Emily could tell it was the old Riku. He was no longer a dark-skinned man, and his hair was Riku's silver hair.

"Riku!" Sora cried again.

"Now there's the Riku I remember." Emily said, as the others expressed their feelings as well. Riku let out a few disgruntled noises before King Mickey spoke up.

"Ansem did say anything could happen…" Everyone was staring at Riku.

"Um---" Emily started. "Riku? Are you planning on taking that blindfold off?"

"Oh…" Riku said, as if he had forgotten the fabric was covering his eyes. He took it off, and blinked his aqua eyes. Emily smiled. She hadn't seen his eyes since that last day of summer vacation, over a year ago.

"Riku, what was that?" Sora asked him. Mickey explained for him.

"His eyes couldn't lie." he said.

"Lie?" Sora and Emily asked together. Sora turned to Riku and said sarcastically, "And just who were you trying to fool? Huh? Huhhh?"

"Myself." Riku answered seriously. Sora was taken aback as he said, "Riku! C'mon man! Why'd you try to do so much on your own?" Sora grabbed Emily's arm and dragged her over to everyone else and said, his arms around Emily and Kairi, "You've got friends! Like us!" Emily gave a cheerful wave.

Riku stared at them all before approaching Sora.

"Have you forgotten?" he asked. "I'll tell you why. Cause I'm not a total sap, like you."

"Say that again!" Sora threatened. Suddenly a strange sound emanated from the sky. It was Kingdom Hearts. It no longer looked like a moon, but rather something fading and falling apart.

"Uh oh." Donald said. Riku ran to the edge of the balcony railing and peered over its edge. Once everyone joined him, they saw hundreds of heartless crawling around.

"What should we do, Riku?" Sora asked.

"I'll tell you." Emily answered instead. "We've gatta beat Xemnas, that's what." Riku nodded and added, "He's the Organization's last survivor."

"Right!" Sora nodded. As everyone turned to go the rest of the way up, Riku grabbed Emily's shoulder.

"Let's get rid of these." he said, pointing to their cloaks. Emily nodded and they both threw them off together.

Riku was wearing his old familiar out fit, and Emily was wearing her pair of blue Capri's, and a blue-violet shirt with a small flower on the side; the clothes she had since she left Destiny Islands. She and Riku nodded towards each other, and they continued.

"Come on." Riku ordered.

**_8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8_**

After climbing their way through the castle, they found themselves in a strange room in which the floor pieces appeared under your feet. Everything seemed right as rain until they reached the top.

"Sora! Riku!" Kairi and Emily shouted. Hundreds of heartless were now entering the room.

"There's gonna be no end to this!" Riku said, wide-eyed.

"There's way too many!" Emily added, Kairi nodded in agreement.

Sora looked at everyone and said, "Together we can stop 'em!" But before any of them could do anything, two figures appeared.

"Great. Two more unknown strangers." Emily said sarcastically. One was an old woman with a large staff, and the other was a very fat, dog looking man.

"Be gone from here! Leave these creatures to us!" The old woman ordered.

"But there's no way we can take 'em all!" the fat dog man argued.

"I will be sending them after Xemnas." the woman explained. "Or perhaps you would rather fight them yourself?" she added.

The man thought for a minute before replying, "Frankly my dear I'd rather… RUN!"

"Off with you then." the women shouted. The man looked as if he really was going to run, before he looked down at the king and said, "Well if it ain't the boat-boy king!"

"Time to weigh anchor, captain Pete!" Mickey replied.

"What, like 'abandon ship'? I don't think so!" he laughed. Then the old woman spoke again.

"Sora! _Your majesty_!" She said. "Do not forget! When I've destroyed them all, this castle shall be mine!" she shouted her last words, and raised her arms towards the ceiling. _You can have it…_ Emily thought, just wanting to get out of there.

"Now lookie here." the man named Pete said. "Opportunities like this don't come along everyday ya know." And with that, he rejoined the old woman.

"Bring 'em on!" he shouted, waving his fists. As the two of them ran to deal with the heartless, King Mickey said, "We gatta hurry!"

"But---" Sora started to argue.

"They're doing what their hearts command. We can't interfere." Mickey explained his reasons.

"Great!" Emily said, not wanting to be here anymore. "Let's go!" she pointed in the direction they needed to begin moving.

Sora reluctantly turned and left. They must have climbed up several stories before finally reaching the top. They had reached the top of the castle at last. There sat Kingdom Hearts in the sky. Emily heard an all too familiar voice say, "Oh… my Kingdom Hearts…ruined." Xemnas stood there, his arms outstretched. "Now I'll have to start all over again." he continued.

"Warriors of the key blade! Go forth, and bring me more hearts!" Emily glared as she called her key blade, along with Riku, Sora, and the King.

"No!" they all shouted together.

"Denizens of light, answer this: Why do you hate the darkness?" Xemnas questioned.

"Aw. We don't hate it," Mickey replied. "It's just kinda…_scary_. But the world's made of light _and _darkness. You can't have one without the other, 'cause darkness is half of everything." The King paused before he questioned, "Sorta makes ya wonder why we're scared of the dark." Riku answered him.

"It's because of who's lurking in side it." he said. Emily nodded.

"Then allow me another question," Xemnas ordered, more than he asked. "You accept darkness, yet choose to live in the light. So why is it that you loath us who teeter on the edge of nothing? We who were turned away by both light and dark--- never given a choice?"

"That's simple," Riku started, but Emily chose to finish.

"It's becuase people like you mess up the worlds. And I've seen that first hand." she said. Xemnas stared at her with his cold, emotionless eyes and said, "That may be… however. What other choice might we have had?" he questioned, yet again.

"Just give it a rest!" Sora ordered. "You're nobodies! You don't even exist! You're not_ sad_ about anything!" It was clear that Sora was angry, by the tone of his voice. Xemnas laughed, a fake laugh, but a well rehearsed one.

"Very good." he said. "You don't miss a thing. I cannot feel--- _sorrow_… No matter what misery befalls the worlds. No matter what you think, what you feel, or how you exist."

When Xemnas finished speaking, he raised his arms, and used his dark magic. There was a flash of light, and Sora was gone.

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**A/N- I suppose this could be seen as a cliffy, but most of you probably know where Sora gets taken to, so yea. okay :D**

**share your thoughts in a review please! i would love it. :) Chapter 20 comes next.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: don't own.**

**A/N- All the thanks in the world goes to my reviewers. I heart u guys. Well, what are you waiting for!? get to reading!**

**Capitulo veinte****

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**

Chapter 20

"Where'd you take him, Xemnas!" Emily shouted angrily. Sora and Xemnas were no where in sight, and Emily was getting sick of Xemnas's tricks. She wanted to finish him off and go home, for good.

"Sora! Where are you!?" Kairi called.

"Sora! Answer me!" Riku called.

"Come on Sora! I don't wanna lose you again!" Emily shouted. Just then, a strange ripple went through the air. It was like wind, only, there was no breeze. It reminded Emily of what an after-shock of a bomb might feel like. The ripple wasn't strong enough to blow anyone over, but it was strong enough to make some one stagger. There was a quick flash of light that followed the ripple, and the sound of a body hitting the ground made everyone turn.

"Sora!" Emily gasped. Sora was laying in the center of the ledge.

"You're okay!" The King cried.

"Where's Xemnas!?" was the only thing Sora asked. There was a strange whistling sound, and Donald let out a yelp. Xemnas was inside of Kingdom Hearts.

"Hear me, Kingdom Hearts!" he shouted. "It seems we must begin anew!" The Kingdom Hearts began doing something that was really unexplainable in words. Strange whisps of light circled around the heart, and went through Xemnas. The lights criss-crossed in and out of eachother, and it would have been a spectacular light show if it wasn't for the evil intention it held.

"Ah." Xemnas sighed. "but know this: I will give to you as many hearts as it takes! Mark my words! You can no more be complete with out me, as I without you. Heed me, Kingdom Hearts! Lend me your power, so that we may be complete! The power to erase the fools that hinder us." Xemnas sounded as if he worshiped the Kingdom Hearts, which Emily suspected he did.

"Xemnas! No!" Mickey cried. Xemnas ignored him and continued his speech.

"Hearts quivering with hatred…"

"Xemnas! Don't!" Sora shouted.

"Hearts burning with rage!"

"You'll never win!" Donald shouted.

"Hearts scarred by envy…"

"Stop it!" Emily screamed.

"That fool Ansem said the heart's true nature was beyond his understanding." Xemnas said. "But it's not beyond mine! Hearts are the source of all power!" Suddenly, Kingdom Hearts glowed so brightly, that everyone yelled out in pain, and shielded their eyes from it.

When everybody looked up again, the Kingdom Hearts still floated, but Xemnas was no longer there.

"Xemnas! You can't hide from us!" Sora shouted. The King turned to everyone and said, "We're not gonna let him get away now!" Suddenly Kairi cried, "Look at that!" she was pointing at something. When Emily turned to see what it was, she saw a flash of light, and a very large door appeared, floating in mid air.

"What is that!?" Emily asked, flabbergasted.

"What's goin' on?" Goofy asked.

"Kingdom Hearts…" Mickey said.

"Let's go." Riku said. "Xemnas must be inside."

"The worlds gave us this doorway." Mickey stated. "They want us to be the guardians of their destiny!"

"Once we go through, there's no turning back." Riku said. Sora nodded. "It's victory or oblivion." he continued. "So, you ready?"

"I know I am." Emily said, all of the anger she felt towards Xemnas heating up inside her. Sora looked at her.

"No." he said. Emily raised her eyebrows and asked, "Why not!? This is just as much my battle as it is yours. Don't be a glory hog!"

"It's not that…" he said.

"Then what is it!?" Emily cried. Sora looked at her, then at the ground.

"I don't want you to get hurt."

"But I've already made it this far!" Emily argued.

"My heart's made its decision. It's telling me to make you stay here. I don't want the risk of losing you. Not now, I already worried enough as it was!" Sora said.

"But---" Emily started, but was cut off by Riku.

"Hey, kid. Sora's heart's made up. And mine is too. I don't think it's a good idea for you to come. You could get hurt, after all, you're just a kid."

"But--- what about what my heart is saying! Doesn't that count too?" Emily questioned. She felt a hand touch her arm, and she looked down. It was the King.

"Are you sure it's your heart that's telling you to go? Or is it the darkness that lingers in everybody's heart? You must tell your heart to make itself clear. The darkness can make itself seem like it's your heart, when really, it's not. If it is the darkness in your heart, you do not want to fight to end this for everyone; rather, just for yourself. Revenge. You hafta make it clear to yourself whether or not it truly is your heart, or if it is the darkness within you." The King's words echoed themselves through Emily's head.

_Maybe..._ Emily thought. _Maybe he's right. Part of me wants to finish Xemnas for all of the lies he told me--- told everyone. But--- part of me still feels like I want to do this so he can stop hurting the worlds. But which feeling is greater? My own reasons, or for the worlds_. Emily came to a conclusion.

"I think--- I think I want to help as much as I can. Maybe the fight with Xemnas isn't my fight, but my heart's telling me that I should help in any other way I can." Emily told the mouse. She then turned her attention towards Sora and said, "But you--- just be careful, okay? Xemnas--- he's--- just watch his every move." Sora nodded, and Emily hugged him.

"Don't hold back. Promise?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Promise." Sora answered, hugging her back. Emily let go and went over to Riku.

"Same goes for you!" she ordered. Riku ruffled her hair and said, "You got it." Emily went to stand with Kairi, but the King stopped her.

"We need you for one last thing. We can't do it without your help…" he said.

"We hafta unlock the door." He explained. Emily nodded at the King's instructions, and the Emily, Sora, the King, and Riku called their key blades. They pointed the key blades towards each other, and when a strong ball of light was at the tip of each blade, they raised their key blades to the sky, and beams of light came out of the blades. This unlocked the majestic doors.

"Get ready Xemnas," Sora threatened. "It all ends here!"

The group headed through the doors, and they entered a place that looked similar to The World That Never Was, yet, it was a lot different. They heard Xemnas's voice echo through-out the place.

"So," the voice said. "it seems your hearts have led you to obliteration. Perhaps it doesn't pay to be too loyal to one's heart. I will have to be sure and remember that." A building began to fall onto them. They quickly ran out of the way as the building crashed. Emily, Kairi, and the King were the only ones to make it back through the doors, which closed, leaving, Sora, Riku, Donald, and Goofy still inside.

"No!" Emily screamed, pounding on the doors, trying to force them open. Kairi ran up to her, and tried to comfort her. "Hey, if he's made it this far, don't you think he'll be okay?" she asked.

"Hey!" The King cried, trying to calm everyone down. "I gatta idea! I don't think you and I have been properly introduced." He pointed to Emily.

"I'm King Mickey, at your service. And you are… Emily?"

"Yea." Emily answered. The King then went on to ask questions of Emily's adventure. Emily told him everything there was to know, starting from the first dream Emily had had. They talked for what felt like hours, and Emily couldn't concentrate well. Her mind wouldn't stop wandering to the thought of everything that had happened up to this moment was for nothing. She tried to reassure herself that her mind was just drawing up false conclusions.

There was a sudden shudder, which stirred the trio. Xemnas, Sora, Riku, Donald, and Goofy had all appeared on the ledge. Xemnas was clutching the place where his heart should be. He looked down towards the ground and said, "I need… more rage… I need… more hearts…" Sora put down his key blade and said calmly, "Xemnas… There's more to a heart than just anger or hate. It's full of all kinds of feelings. Don't you remember?" For the first time, Emily heard Xemnas speak something of truth.

"Unfortunately," he said. "I don't…" and his body disintegrated.

Everyone started celebrating. Emily ran up to Riku and Sora and hugged them both.

"You're okay!" She said.

"Gosh!" the king cried. "You all did great!" Riku then walked away from the group, and Sora followed him. Emily followed too.

"You're coming back with us, right?" Sora asked him.

"Yea," Emily said. "Everyone's missed you…"

"I had given into the darkness." Riku said. Emily crossed her arms and Sora cried, "Riku!"

"How am I gonna face everyone!?" Riku practically shouted.

"Like this!" Sora shouted, and contorted his face into an extremely goofy one. Emily snorted.

And for the first time, Emily heard Riku laugh, but a sudden shake of the building stopped him. The king ran over and said, "Hurry!"

"I'll open a path!" Riku said, and he waved his hand in a similar motion as the organization members did; only nothing happened. Riku gasped, and stared at his hand.

"You don't belong in the dark realm anymore, Riku." the King said.

"How do we get out of here, your majesty?" Donald asked.

"Hmm…" the king thought.

Suddenly the girl Emily knew to be Naminé appeared, only, she was translucent. Naminé opened a large portal. _A nobody? _Emily thought. The girl disappeared as the king and Donald ran over to the portal.

"Who did this?" Donald asked.

"Welp (**A/N- yes that says welp. I was watching this cut scene, and that's what it really says. Sorry, any way,**) I'm not sure." the King replied. "But we'd better hurry and get through."

"Wait fer me!" Goofy cried. Goofy, the King, and Donald all entered the portal. Then Naminé appeared again.

"Thank you, Naminé." Kairi told her.

"Sure." Naminé replied. "See?" Naminé asked Sora. "We meet again, like we promised."

"Uh---" Emily mumbled.

"Huh?" Sora asked, just as confused. Suddenly a voice, one Emily recognized from that day on the beach, said, "You said we'd meet again. But when we did, we might not recognize each other." Suddenly, a translucent boy exited from Sora's body. The boy had spiky blonde hair, blue eyes, and wore an out fit that looked similar to Sora's, except he wore pants that went all the way to the ground.

"I did, didn't I." Naminé asked.

"But I knew you." the boy told her. _This is… Roxas! I meet him at last! _Emily thought.

"…It's strange." Naminé said.

"I think I understand." Roxas told her. "I see myself the way you remember me, and you see yourself as the way I remember you." Emily was suprised that Roxas's words made sense to her.

"I always thought nobodies were doomed to fade back into darkness…" Naminé said.

"Yeah," Roxas agreed. "But you and I didn't. We got to meet our original selves."

"So," Naminé started. "We can be together again!"

"Right." Roxas said, moving closer to Naminé.

"Any time Sora and Kairi are together." Roxas continued.

"We'll be together everyday, right Sora?" Kairi asked.

"Uh---" Sora jumped at Kairi's question. "Yea!" His cheeks went a little red.

Kairi and Naminé walked towards each other. They grasped hands, and Naminé was absorbed into Kairi. Sora stared at her with wide eyes.

"Look sharp!" Roxas told him. Sora straightened up, and Roxas was absorbed into him as well.

"I finally got to see Roxas…" Emily said to herself. Riku joined the group. Sora looked at his body in confusion.

"Don't worry," Riku said. "You're all still you." Kairi took Emily's hand, and they went to stand in the portal.

"Let's go home." Kairi said.

"Riku, C'mon." Sora said.

"Yeah." he replied.

Emily and Kairi went through the portal, when they realized something was wrong. The portal was closing!

"Sora! Riku!" Kairi and Emily shouted. And Sora and Riku's bodies disappeared. Emily called her key blade and began bashing the area where the portal had been. She shouted angrily as she lashed about.

"Not--- Again! Not…After…All…I've…been…through…to…find…you!" She shouted out with each swing of the blade. After she began to run out of energy, Kairi put her hand on her shoulder, but said nothing, tears in her eyes.

Emily turned to look at her and said heatedly, "So this is it!? We're back where we started!? Sora and Riku are still gone!?" Emily let her key blade go away as she wiped the tears of frustration away.

"Well---" Kairi said slowly. "At least we're back home safe." Emily stared at her and asked, "What does that matter!? Sora and Riku are still out there! I--- I---" Emily stuttered.

"Aw. I'm sure they'll find a way to get back." King Mickey said in his little voice.

"Yea." Goofy added. "I'm sure Sora'll find away outta--- wherever he's at."

"Yea." Donald quacked. Emily looked around. The island. Everything was calm and peaceful; just like it had been before she left. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"You wanna go sit on the dock?" Kairi asked, already heading there herself. Emily looked around and said, "Sure. Why not." The gentle sounds of the waves crashing on the sand had a very soothing effect on her.

Goofy and Donald joined the King to sit in the shade of a paopu fruit tree. _They must not be used to this type of island heat… _Emily thought to herself. Emily had to admit, she wasn't used to it either, after being cooped up in such a cold, dark place like the World That Never Was. The sun was beginning to set. Emily stared at it in wonder, but grew bored as several minutes ticked painfully by.

Emily sighed and stood up. Kairi looked at her.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I wanna check out the secret cave. Call me if anything happens." Emily replied. Truthfully, she just wanted to get out of the sun and heat, and she wanted to do something besides sit there and wait for a miracle that wasn't going to happen. As she made her way to the entrance, she looked around. There was the play boat everyone and their fathers had built together, the small shack they had built into the side of a dune, the fresh water spring, and the large tree with the tree house at the top. It was all still there; and finally, so was the cave entrance.

Emily went in and rejoiced in the cool, damp air. After her eyes adjusted to the sudden light change, she looked at all the pictures that filled her with so many memories. After she had looked each drawing over, she began to leave, when something caught her eye.

"Hello…" she said quietly. "I've never seen you before." It was a small picture near the base of the cave. From far away she could make out a heart shape, and a few scribbles. She crouched down next to it, and her eyes immediately spilled over with tears.

She placed her hand on it. It was the heart that Tidus had drawn, with their names inside it, plus the paopu fruit drawing.

"I'll see you soon." she whispered to him. She stood up, and wiped her eyes. She didn't want the others to know that she had been crying. She took a deep breath as she exited the cave. Something caught her eye. She ran towards the others, who were standing near the shoreline. They were gazing up at the sky.

"What's going on?" Emily asked, looking up as well. No one answered, but they didn't need to. Two balls of light that resembled meteors were falling into the ocean.

The balls landed with a huge splash.

"Wha---" Emily asked, not believing her eyes. For one or two seconds, nothing happened. But then two heads popped out of the water.

"It's---" Kairi started, but Emily finished by calling out, "Sora! Riku!" Both boys turned in the shore's direction. Emily and Kairi waved as the boys spotted them. Sora let out a cry of laughter, and he and Riku began swimming. As soon as he could, Sora began to run, stumbling through the water.

As Riku and Sora neared the shore, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey ran at them. Jumping into the water, Goofy and Donald knocked Sora over, and gave him gigantic bear hugs. Mickey ran to Riku, and jumped at him. Riku caught him and spun him around. Kairi leaned over Sora, and giggled. Sora smiled back, and reached into his pocket. He pulled out Kairi's lucky charm. When he looked back up at her, there was a flash of light, and the boy known as Roxas appeared, and Kairi was replaced with Naminé. Both of them smiled at each other, and another flash of light and they were gone.

A tear escaped Sora's eye as he said, "We're--- we're back!" He looked up at Kairi and grinned. Kairi smiled as she reached her hand out to him.

"You're home." she corrected. Emily smiled as tears rolled down her face. Sora grabbed Kairi's hand and she helped him up. He put his arms around her.

"I won't leave you again. I promise." he told her. Kairi hugged him back as she said, "I know you won't."

"Ah jeez. I didn't want to cry this much." Emily sobbed, trying to hold back the tears that were forcing their way out. Sora looked up and turned his attention towards her.

"Hey, don't be a baby." he joked. Emily shook her head, and hugged him.

"I'm sorry. For everything." she said into his hoody.

"Hey, it's okay. It's not like you caused me to go away." Sora said. Emily shook her head.

"I can't help but feel like it was." Emily replied.

"Why's that?" Sora asked.

"Because. That day on the beach--- I wished that you would disappear. Remember?" Emily said, choking up again. She let go of him, and stood back to look at everyone.

"Ah come on Em. You gatta learn to let stuff like that go. You know it wasn't your fault." Sora told her. Emily nodded, supposing that he was right. Kairi was talking to Riku, and Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were entering some type of light beam. Emily looked up to see what the beam was connected to, and saw a huge floating ship.

"Is that--- a 'Gummi Ship'?" she asked. The King nodded, and the three of them waved as they were teleported up to the ship. Emily waved to them, watching the ship leave the atmosphere with lightning-like speed. Emily then turned her attention to Riku as she said, "I still need a hug from you ya know."

Riku laughed as Emily jumped into his arms. He was too tall for her to hug him properly.

"We both defeated the darkness. We're lucky. Most people would've succumbed to the darkness if they had been in our position. But we made it." Riku said, squeezing the life out of Emily.

"How am I supposed to celebrate that if I can't breath?" Emily forced the words out. Riku laughed again as he set her down.

"Are you all who I think you are!?" a familiar girl's voice called out.

"Yea. How long's it been!?" cried a boy's voice. Emily turned. Selphie and Wakka were running towards the group, holding hands. Selphie hugged everyone, as did Wakka, and they began talking. Sora made his way out of the chattering group, and grabbed Emily's shoulder.

"Hey," he said. "I got that picture you drew. Did you really--- I mean--- did everyone forget? Even--- mom and dad?" Emily nodded.

"Yea. Kairi and I were the first ones to remember. Gosh I wonder how mom, dad, Shelby, and Mark are doing." Emily said, her mind racing.

"Yea. They'll go hysteric when they see us come back all at once." Sora answered. Sora then looked at the group, who had gone silent. Emily turned.

"What's…going…on…?" she asked slowly, spotting the reason. About fifteen feet away, stood Tidus. The same as Emily remembered. Tall, tan, silly pants with one leg longer than the other, yellow and white pull over, that showed off his physique (which Emily had to admit, wasn't bad looking).

"E---Emily?" Tidus asked. Emily pushed her hair behind her ear.

She looked to the sand and said, "I---I'm so sorry I left--- like that. We never said--- goodbye. Did we…?" Then something shocked her. She felt warm arms embracing her. She looked up, and Tidus's face was looking at her, his soft blue eyes tearing up.

"I thought I lost you." he said so only she could hear him. She wrapped her arms around him.

"I---" Emily said, but stopped. The words weren't forming right. Tidus lifted her head up to meet his gaze.

"It's okay. You're--- you're here now, and that's all that matters." he said. Emily couldn't explain this overwhelming feeling that was overcoming her. She felt like she had to kiss him.

It started out slow, but their heads eventually came together. As their lips began to tough, a loud cough was emitted. Emily and Tidus pulled away form each other instantly, both a little embarrassed. It was Sora who coughed, and he was standing with his arms crossed.

"Heh…" Emily laughed nervously, putting her arm behind her head.

* * *

**A/N- they're finally back on Destiny Islands! **

**Reviews?**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer- don't own.**

**A/N- :'( this is sadly the LAST CHAPTER. I would just like to say that I really enjoyed writing this story. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Okay, I know it's sad, but the time has come for you to read the very last chapter. Peace.**

**p.s. this chapter's kinda long.**

**Capitulo veinte y uno

* * *

**

**Chapter 21**

"So, uh---" Sora started, eyeing Emily and Tidus. He pointed at them with his finger. "You two are finally---" Emily nodded sheepishly.

"Yea…" she answered.

"I see… wow I've missed a lot." Sora said.

"So tell us everything already!" Selphie shouted. When Emily turned to look at her, she was standing with her arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Yea! We wanna know everything that happened! Like for instance, where did you all go!?" Wakka said.

"Maybe we should sit down and talk about it, 'cause this is gonna take some time." Emily said, gesturing towards the dock. Emily sat next to Tidus, and removed her shoes so she could stick her feet into the cool water. Sora was the first to start off, and he Kairi, and Riku gave a summery of what happened when they went on their first adventure. When that explanation was over, Emily, Sora, Kairi, and Riku all added in their parts of the story as to what happened this time. When everything was said and all the questions were asked, the sun had set, and it was dark and starting to get cold. There was a silence as everyone reminisced in their thoughts.

Emily finally broke the silence by asking, "So how long were we gone, anyway?" Tidus looked at her and answered, "Almost three weeks." Emily looked at him with a shocked face and said, "Three weeks!? That's it!? It _so_ felt like longer than that! Hey--- wait a minute--- '_almost three weeks'_--- that means it's a--- Friday?" Tidus nodded and asked, "Why is it being Friday so important? I would be just as happy if it was any day."

"Because silly," Emily said, grinning from ear to ear. "That means--- the school dance--- it's tomorrow! I can still go! Oh--- but I don't have anything to wear! Well there is this one skirt---" Sora interrupted Emily's ramblings by asking, "There's a school dance? Tomorrow?"

Kairi nodded.

"Yea. But you don't have a ticket! I bet the school will sell them at the door." Selphie explained.

"Yea! I'm sure they will." Emily added. "You and Riku can both get a ticket." Riku turned his head away, his hair falling in his eyes.

"I don't have anyone to go with." he said quietly.

"Of course you do!" Emily said. "You've got all of us!" Riku kept his head down and replied, "But I'll be the only one there without a date." At his words, Sora and Kairi looked at each other, and then looked away, both blushing.

"Who cares? You've got friends to go with; that's all that matters. I'm sure you'd have a good time." Emily said. Riku looked up and said, "Maybe you're right. I've been in the darkness too long. I've forgotten what it's like to have friends who are there for you." Sora looked at Riku and crossed his arms as he said, "Well, never forget it again."

Riku nodded. "I won't." he said seriously. Emily yawned and said, "Hey guys, I think we should head home. It's late, and I don't know about you, but I haven't gotten a full night's sleep in forever." She stifled another yawn as she spoke. The others nodded in agreement. Tidus stood up and said, "You're right. We've got three boats here, so there can be two boats of two, and one of three. Em and I will go in one together…" He offered Emily a hand, which she took, gratefully.

"Home." Emily repeated, not used to the word. Thoughts of her parents and her little brother and sister filled her head, and she had to hold back another wave of tears. Tidus kept his hand in Emily's and took her to a boat. When everyone was ready, it was Emily and Tidus, Selphie and Wakka, and Sora, Kairi, and Riku to a boat.

"Well, let's go." Wakka ordered. The little boats made their way across the ocean. Emily wanted to talk, but the effects of sleep depravation were too much. She began nodding off, but Tidus didn't seem to mind. Emily tried to keep herself awake by stretching.

It took her a few seconds to realize something was wrong.

Emily looked around. It was silent, and nothing was moving. The water was as still as if it were made out of ice.

"What's going on?" Emily asked. She reached out and touched Tidus; he was as cold as a statue. Emily immediately put her hand to her neck, and felt a chain and a round object underneath her shirt. She pulled the chain and found that the little clock that controlled time magic was still around her neck. She pulled it off and looked at it. She finally said, "No more." She was about to drop it into the water, when something stopped her. It was more of a feeling rather than a physical force.

_I might need this again sometime… _Emily thought, pocketing the watch. She figured that she had absent mindedly waved her hand and stopped time while she was stretching. She waved her hand again, and the sounds of the sea came back to life, and the breeze made Emily shiver.

"Are you cold?" Tidus asked her, he hadn't realized that Emily's arms had suddenly changed positions, but it was dark, so he probably couldn't see that well. Emily nodded and said, "But it's okay. I like this feeling. I've been cooped up in that castle for so long that I've forgotten what 'weather' is like."

Tidus nodded and continued rowing. Sleep soon found it's way to Emily, and she nodded off until she felt someone shaking her. She opened her eyes reluctantly, and saw that it was Tidus.

"Come on. You've got to get home." Emily became aware of her surroundings, and saw that she was still in the boat, which was now tied to the dock. The others were all waiting on the dock for her, and Tidus was offering his hand. Emily slowly took it, and the chill of the air woke her up.

"Your mom and dad are waiting for you." Tidus said. Emily nodded. Selphie, Wakka, and Riku all headed in one direction, while Emily, Tidus, Sora, and Kairi all headed in the other.

The group walked in silence. While Emily was walking, she felt a hand lace its fingers into her own. She looked up. It was Tidus. He smiled at her as she moved closer to him. His body was emitting heat like a furnace. It made Emily stop shivering from the cold breeze. They continued to walk for another ten minutes before they finally stopped in front of Sora and Emily's house. The four of them stared at it.

"So--- I'll be at your house sometime tomorrow afternoon for the dance? Which I think starts at six?" Tidus asked. Emily nodded, holding up her hand that was being held by Tidus. She looked at it before letting go and, this time, _she _surprised _him_ with a hug. He gladly hugged her back.

Unaware that Sora was watching her, Emily and Tidus stood like that for what felt like an eternity. A part of Emily didn't want the hug to end, but the other part of her wanted to desperately see her family. She reluctantly let go.

"It's time for me to go--- home." she said, _still _not used to using the word.

"Time for _us_." Sora corrected. Tidus and Kairi said their goodbyes as Sora and Emily gave one last look at each other before walking up to their front door.

"Ready?" Sora asked her, grabbing the door handle.

"Ready." Emily nodded her head.

Sora opened the door. The house was dark, and had an eerie quietness to it. Emily and Sora entered the house, and Sora closed the door almost silently.

"Maybe their asleep?" he whispered. Emily shrugged her shoulders. A flicker of light caught her eye from a reflection on the kitchen floor. She pointed to it and put a finger to her lips. She motioned for Sora to follow her. The silently made their way into the kitchen, and stood in the door way of their main room. There was a soft fire going in the fireplace. Their parents were sitting on the loveseat, with tear stained eyes with bags underneath them. Shelby and Mark were huddled together under a small blanket near the fire.

Emily felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"M--mom? D---dad?" she asked shakily. Their parents slowly turned their heads, and stared at them with wide, unbelieving eyes. Their dad dropped his handkerchief, and their mom began crying hysterically. Shelby and Mark removed the blanket from their bodies, and turned around. They both stood up, staring in unbelief.

"E--mily? S--sora?" Shelby asked. Shelby and Mark each ran up to their siblings, and wrapped their little arms around them. Mark ran to Emily, who lifted him off the ground, and tightly hugged him. Sora did the same with Shelby. Then the two youngsters switched.

Their parents were still sitting in their seats.

"Mommy, Daddy, don't you wanna see Em and Sora?" Shelby asked them between sobs. Their mom was the first to get up.

"Oh, my, God. You-- you're really here!" she said, running to the two and wrapping her arms around each of them. She was practically choking them. Emily hugged back and said, "Don't kill us the first day we come back, mom." Their mother shook her head, and set Emily and Sora back so she could look at them. She began crying hysterically (just as Sora had predicted). Sora grabbed a chair from the kitchen and set it behind his mother, who sat down.

"You too daddy!" Shelby cried, grabbing her father's hand. He slowly stood up, and walked over to Sora and Emily. He stared for a long time before saying, "You--- you're both back." Emily had never seen her father cry before, but he just broke down on the spot. He couldn't stand up, so he went to the floor and began crying at their feet.

"Dad!" Emily cried, bending down to him.

"Dad! Daddy, it's okay. We're here again. Everything's going to be okay." Emily turned to Sora and said, "Get him a chair or something." Sora nodded and grabbed another chair from the kitchen table.

Emily and Sora helped their dad to his feet, and set him in the chair. He nodded appreciatively, unable to speak in words.

"Come on." Emily said, tears no longer being suppressed in her eyes. "This is supposed to be a happy moment. I don't want to cry anymore. It's all I've done all day." Her words slurred together as tears rolled down her face. Sora nodded, Emily could tell he was holding back tears of his own. Their parents looked at them and their mom said, "It's--- it's just been so long. I mean--- to think that Sora's been away for over a year. It's just--- so--- hard to deal with. Then you, our second oldest goes and disappears too. It's too much for a mother to handle. Then you both come back, the day we almost break." Another wave of sobs made it impossible for their mother to speak.

Emily understood though. The family stayed in the kitchen for a few hours, all crying together. It must have been one thirty in the morning before everybody calmed down.

"So---" Sora was the first to speak. "So do I still have my room?" Their mother looked at their father, then said.

"Not exactly. The day after Emily disappeared, the day that everyone began to remember you, we couldn't stand looking at all your things. We put everything into the attic, and gave Shelby and Mark their own rooms. So now--- neither of you have a room." Sora and Emily's faces dropped and their father added, finally able to speak, "But--- now everyone can share rooms. Shelby and Mark are too old to sleep in the same room together now, so the girls can share a room, while the boys can share the other."

Emily didn't mind the idea of getting to share her room with her sister. Three weeks ago she probably would've hated the idea of sharing a room with anyone. But now, after she had grown so used to sharing a room with Axel, she hated the idea of sleeping alone.

"Okay." she said, grabbing her little sister's hand. Shelby looked up at her, tears still falling from her little eyes.

"I missed you, sissy." she said. Emily looked at her. How long has it been since she had called her that? Emily didn't care. She bent down to her sister's height and said, "I missed you too." She hugged her once more.

"Hey--- it's really late. We should all go to bed." Sora said, yawning and stretching. Everyone seemed relieved that someone had finally suggested it.

"Your things are in the attic, but if we all work together, we can bring everything down and start to organize the bed rooms" their father said, standing up. He had aged a lot since Emily had seen him. She figured it was from all the stress, but his hair had grayed a lot from its original, dark-brown color.

**_8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8_**

After an hour to an hour and a half, the family finally finished moving all the bed room materials; beds, dressers, boxes of clothes. Emily changed out of her clothes (very happy to get rid of them, she was sure they smelled bad), put a pair of pajamas on, and collapsed in her bed. She fell asleep before her head ever hit the pillow.

"Emily! Emmy! Wake up right now!" A demanding little voice woke her up. Emily rubbed her eyes and saw Shelby in her face.

"Mommy and Daddy said that you guys could sleep in, but no later than three o'clock. And it's three thirty now! Come on! Get out of bed! Mommy says you've got to take a shower 'cause you're smelly." Emily glared at her little sister, before getting out of bed, and tickling her to the ground. When Shelby began to complain that she couldn't breath, Emily stopped. She laughed as her sister continued to roll around on the floor. Emily grabbed some new clothes, and headed towards the bathroom. Once she realized she was going to wrong way, she laughed at herself and turned around.

After a nice, not, relaxing shower, Emily dried herself off, remembered that it was the day of the dance, and called for her mother to help her do her hair while it was still wet. Her mother soon came in, and started the curling iron. It took a few minutes to heat up, so her mom brushed Emily's hair several times to get the knots out. Emily's mom then began curling selected parts of Emily's hair. She then used countless bobby pins and hair ties to get Emily's hair up in a pretty bun. Emily's mother had a few bobby pins that had diamond tips, and used those for decoration around the bun. She also left out a few wisps of curly hair that fell nicely around Emily's face. Her hair looked stunning when it was all over and done with.

As Emily hugged her mother and told her thank you, her mom said, "Tidus called. He'll be here in about an hour. Kairi will be here around the same time. Do you need help picking out what you're going to wear?" Emily shook her head and said, "Thanks though. I planned it all out last night." Emily's mom smiled at her and said, "All right. I'm going to make cookies soon. Chocolate chip sound good?" Emily nodded her head excitedly. Chocolate chip were her favorite, and she hadn't eaten real food in a while. She suddenly realized that she must have lost a lot of weight. She ran to her foom and found her mirror, and looked at herself. True, she was a bit thinner, but she could see well built up areas of muscle.

She smiled to herself, and went to search her closet for her special skirt, and shirt. Once she had found them, she laid the entire outfit on her bed. A white shirt, that had a white flower embroidery on it, and a white lace scarf attached to it. A silky white skirt that had a subtle sparkle to it. White high heels that she had gotten as a present a few months ago from her grandmother in the mail. Altogether it looked very nice. It was a nice contrast to all the black she had been wearing lately.

"Makeup…" she suddenly remembered. She picked out a sparkly lip stick, one of her mother's subtle pink blushes, and a silvery-white eye shadow that shimmered in the light. She put on the makeup herself, knowing how only because she had studied her mother do it for so long.

She waited to put on her outfit until later. She didn't want to dirty it up. She had a pair of sweat pants on, and a blue tank top. She didn't care if her clothing matched her hair and face right now. She went down stairs to see what her family was up to. Sora was the only one not downstairs.

"Where's Sora?" Emily asked, grabbing an orange from the fridge (she had grown quite used to them over the past few weeks).

"He's showering now." her mother replied, mixing cookie dough.

"Smells awesome mom." Emily said. Her mother smiled approvingly.

**_8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8_**

After forty-five minutes had passed, Sora finally came down stairs, dressed in a black tux. Emily had never known he owned one. He had on a white shirt and a red tie and cummerbund. His hair was still spiky, but you could tell he put some gel in it.

"You look nice." Emily commented. Sora looked at her and said, "Well--- your face and hair look nice, but I have to say, your clothes don't match." he smirked as Emily glared at him, but she laughed anyway. Emily looked at the clock. It read four forty. Tidus and Kairi would be arriving soon.

"Be right back." Emily told no one in particular as she ran upstairs. She changed into her dance clothes, and made sure everything was right. She thought that she cleaned up nicely.

"Em! Tidus is here!" Emily heard Sora's voice call from downstairs. Her heart began to race. She had never been this dressed up before in front of Tidus, and she had never seen him dressed up before either. She walked slowly out of her room, not used to walking on heels. She saw Tidus standing downstairs, next to Kairi. He too was wearing a black tux and white shirt, but his cummerbund was a sky blue color. He looked very handsome. He had even applied gel to his hair too. Kairi was in a light pink dress that was cut just above the knee. It had magenta colored jewels running up the side from the bottom in a curved wave pattern. Kairi had her hair up, and she had a few pieces of hair dangling in her face. She looked very pretty. Sora's face was very red. Emily laughed to herself as she slowly descended down the stairs. She almost made it without falling. It was the last step. She tripped over the carpet and could feel herself falling.

Everything went into slow motion. She saw the floor come closer and closer to her face, but a hand caught hers, and pulled her back to her feet, and brought time back to its normal speed.

"Are you okay?" Tidus asked. Emily stared at his hand in hers. _What is it with people and saving me lately ? _Emily thought. Her cheeks began to feel hot out of embarrassment (she hoped the blush would cover it up), and she nodded.

"Thanks." she said.

The group headed into the main room, which had been cleaned up, and had the lights on again. Emily thought that her parents must have done it early that morning. Emily and Tidus sat on the loveseat, while Kairi and Sora sat on the couch. Sora was nervously twiddling his thumbs in his lap. They sat in silence until Shelby and Mark entered the room.

"You look handsome, Tidus…" Shelby said, making room for herself on the couch next to him. Tidus laughed. Emily would have been mad on any other day, but she just found too many reasons to be happy rather than angry.

Mark looked at Kairi and said, "Kairi, you're hot." Emily used every once of will power in side her to keep from laughing. Her brother was only six years old, yet here he was telling a fifteen year old that she was "hot". Kairi laughed and said, "Why thank you Mark." Mark grinned at her.

"Yea well---" Sora said, eyeing his brother. "She's too old for you pal. Besides--- she's--- with me…" Sora said the last part in an almost whisper. His cheeks went a bright red, and he looked down. Mark ran out of the room, in fear that Sora was going to chase him, and he was closely followed by a very giggly Shelby. Kairi looked at Sora, and smiled, placing her hand on his.

Sora looked up and grinned at her. If his cheeks could get any redder, Emily didn't know.

"What's wrong with you guys today?" Emily's mom asked, entering the room with a plate of hot cookies. "From what I remember, you guys used to never stop talking." She chuckled as she set the plate down on the coffee table and left the room. Emily breathed in the aroma from the cookies.

"My favorite." She said, reaching for one. Everyone else followed suit.

"Your mom's an excellent cook." Tidus said, finishing off his second cookie. Emily smiled and said, "I'll be sure to tell her you said that."

_**8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8- 8-8-8**_

Before the group headed for the school, Emily's parents took plenty of pictures. Emily's dad drove them all in his car, and they arrived at the school at six o'clock on the dot.

"Nice timing." Tidus commented. Emily laughed. The group spotted Selphie and Wakka running towards them. Selphie was in a puffy yellow dress, and Wakka was wearing a white tux and a black shirt, tie, and cummerbund. They looked cute together. Riku soon came too, in a black tux, white shirt, and a pale yellow tie and cummerbund.

Selphie was right, and the school was selling tickets at the door. Many people came up and welcomed Emily back as well as her brother, Riku, and Kairi. The teachers welcomed them back too. Nobody really asked any questions, and when they did, Emily and the others just told them that it was a long story. The group bought Riku and Sora their tickets, and they headed into the school. The dance was being held in the gymnasium. The gym was well lit for the time being, and there were groups of people requesting songs at the D.J.'s table, and hanging out at one of the many food and punch tables.

In less than five minutes, the lights were turned off, and dim lights came on all over the gym. The theme looked like a tropical one. There were neon trees and monkeys, and ocean waves around the gym along with balloon trees and balloon monkeys. There was even a disco ball that began to turn. It reflected the light across the gym. It was very pretty looking. The first few songs were fast paced ones, and the whole group danced together. Everyone was having a good time, even Riku. There was a small break from the music, and Tidus offered to get punch for Emily, who agreed. She was parched, and fruit punch sounded pretty good. Emily went to sit with Kairi, who found a table along the wall that had several chairs pulled up to it.

Emily sat down next to her and sighed.

"Sora really likes you, doesn't he." Emily said. Kairi smiled as she nodded.

"I'm lucky. There're plenty of other girls out there, and he chose me. I don't know if you feel the same way with Tidus, but it makes me feel like one in a million." Kairi stared in Sora's direction, a soft smile on her face. Emily nodded.

"Yea. I know what you mean." she said. Tidus and the rest of the group soon returned. They drank their punch and talked excitedly about what they were going to do with each other now that everyone was back. The music soon started up again. A slow song. Emily's heart began to pound. She had never done this before. She stood in front of Tidus, who put his ahands around her waist. Emily reached up and put her arms around his neck. Half way into the song, Emily got used to the dancing, and had her head pressed against Tidus' chest. In-between his neck and his shoulder.

"All right folks." The D.J. said. "This is the last song of the night. Dance to it with someone ya love." The D.J. put one last slow song on. Emily looked around and saw all the couples in the gym. Sora and Kairi weren't far away, and they looked like nothing in the world could tear them apart. Selphie and Wakka were dancing together too, only in a more ballroom type dancing style. Then there was Riku. He was sitting in one of the chairs, staring into space. _Don't worry. _She told him in her mind_. The one for you is just around the corner. You just have to search for her_.

"Hey, babe." An all too familiar voice said from behind. A hand grabbed Emily's arm and pulled her away from Tidus.

"Wha--- Hey!" Emily shouted. The hand turned her around, and Emily found herself looking into the face of Reign.

"Hey, babe. I told you I wanted you to save a dance for me. Remember? It was sometime before you left, which really was a shame. You'll hafta tell me _all_ about it." Emily glared at him, but then quickly devised a plan in her head. She softened her expression and said smoothly, "Oh, I'll tell you, _all about it_!" Emily took her right hand and slapped him across the face. She could defend herself this time.

"When are you going to learn that Tidus is my boyfriend, and that I would _never _like you! Get lost!" Emily shouted.

Emily looked at Reign's shocked face as he ran away. Tidus was staring, wide-eyed.

"Whoa!" he said, gaping, opend mouthed at Emily.

"I have a feeling he won't be bothering me anymore. Now, let's finish our dance, shall we?" Emily asked, grabbing Tidus' hand. He nodded. The song was a really long one, and Emily was getting that overwhelming feeling of wanting to kiss Tidus again. As their heads came closer together, Emily heard her brother start to cough loudly again, She opened her eyes, gave him a look, and waved her hand. Time had stopped, and Emily was glad she had kept the watch.

Tidus looked around.

"What?" he said, confused, looking around to see why the song stopped, and why no one was moving. Emily looked around as well, and saw her brother glaring at her. She laughed. Selphie and Wakka looked like they were about to kiss as well, and Riku was staring at Kairi.

"I stopped time. Remember, I told you about that time magic last night? I didn't want this to end just yet." Emily explained. Tidus nodded.

"This is aweso---" but he was cut off. He felt a strange new presence on his face. He shifted his eyes down, and saw Emily kissing him. He closed his eyes and kissed back. Emily lazing waved her hand, and time started again. The music ended, but Emily and Tidus continued to dance.

The lights came on and there was a loud, "Ahem!" from behind. Emily and Tidus broke apart.

"Jeez. I thought that was never going to end." Sora said, sticking out his tongue.

"You're just jealous." Emily replied. Tidus just stood there, not fully comprehending what had just taken place. Sora gave Emily one of his looks, and said, "The day I'm jealous of you is the day you win a million munny." Emily laughed.

"Hey guys," Riku said, looking around the gym, which was now empty, except for Selphie and Wakka still dancing and the teachers roaming about. "Let's go home."

Emily grabbed Tidus' hand, squeezed it gently and asked, "Can we walk?"

"In high heels?" Kairi asked, grinning. "Are you kidding?"

"We could take them off." Emily suggested, and took off her shoes. Kairi laughed and did the same.

"Okay," she said. "Let's walk." Kairi grabbed Sora's hand and dragged him out of the gym, closely followed by Emily and Tidus. Riku walked slowly behind, and Selphie and Wakka remained dancing in the gym.

This had, by far, been the best night of Emily's life.

**_8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8_**

**_8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8_**

**_8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8_**

**_8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8_**

**_8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8_**

**_8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8_**

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**A/N- whaaaaa!!!!! it's finally over :'( **

**I'm tearing up. no, not really, but I am sad. please review. And don't forget to check out the credits chapter. I promise you'll be glad you did!**

**I hope all of you remembered who Reign was. If you can remember from one of the earlier chapters, he said, "save a dance for me." I thought I'd clear that up in case you were confused or anything.**


	22. Credits

**Credits:**

**My reason for creating this story:**

I was replaying Kingdom Hearts 1, and I saw the one cut scene where Sora's mom was telling him dinner was ready.

So I started thinking, did Sora have any other family? And how would they react after he disappeared for over a year?

That train of thought eventually led to the creation of this story.

**To all my loyal reviewers (in no particular order):**

Enviouse-of-you-kid

Kingomheartsgurl369

Nobody'snobody

I-Want-More

Jayln

Twilight Angel1013

Shire Folk

Manga-Fanatic

Weixuan18

Bailkatanas

Kingdom Hearts98Fan

Prince-Marth85

Narnian Magic

**Thanks to everyone!!**

**Also, thanks goes out to all the readers who don't review. Just knowing you read the story is rewarding enough. I got many more hits than I thought I would.**

**Over 2,000!! **

**:)

* * *

**

**_About the Sequel:_**

The sequel take place one year after this ends. The first month of their summer break.

I'll give you the very first paragraph:

_A young girl, no older than nine, no younger than five, was running through what looked like a tropical forest. Her features were distorted, and imposible to make out. The girl stumbled, looked back at whatever was chasing her, screamed, and continuted to run, pushing herself to go faster. She tripped and somersaulted over the large tree roots. She cried out for help, and screamed as whatever was chasing her, caught up with her. Whatever it was, was black, and it was impossible to make out what it was. It looked like a piece of black material, the way it fluttered in the breeze. It covered all of the view, and there was a scream followed by a sickening crunch. The black material turned away, and the little girl was gone. Left in her place was a pool of blood._

Well, that's all I'm going to give you. **:p**

I'm not quite sure of the title yet, but I believe it'll be called

"Forever and Again".

If it changes, I'll be sure to let you guys know.

You can check my profile for more details later.

Thanks for reading!

(If you would like me to send you a message of when I post the second story, tell me in a review.)

**:D**


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